Suspect charged with murder after man dies at farm in Chartham, near Canterbury
Published: 09:58, 08 May 2024
Updated: 14:12, 08 May 2024
A suspect has been charged with murder after a man died following a reported assault on a farm near Canterbury.
Police were called to the site off Nickle Lane, Chartham, at 8.40pm on Sunday, May 5, following a report a man had been attacked.
Officers attended along with South East Coast Ambulance Service and a 51-year-old man, named as Ion Niculae, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two men, who are known to the victim, were arrested as part of an investigation by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.
Robert Onicala, 20, of Ashford Road, Chartham, has since been charged with murder and affray.
Alexandru Onicala, 27, also of Ashford Road, Chartham, has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray.
Both men are due to appear at Folkestone Magistrates' Court today.
Mansfields has confirmed all three of the men were workers at its fruit-picking farm in Chartham.
The company’s CEO Lee Port told KentOnline the alleged attack happened at an accommodation site near the farm run by Pro-Force.
Pro-Force has been contacted for comment.
Mansfields is Kent’s biggest fruit producer.
More by this author
Max Chesson