• April

This month saw a former Medway university student who put a young prostitute through a terrifying rape ordeal was jailed indefinitely for the public’s protection.

Mohammed Khan, 21 at the time of the offence, threatened his victim with murder unless she complied.

Strood firefighters and Medway vets worked together to free a runaway puppy who managed to impale herself on steel railings in Higham.

After arguments about repair costs, the Medway Tunnel was sold to the council for the sum of just £1.

Despite concerns that the run down structure may not have been much of a bargain, Medway Council decided to take responsibility for the structure after detailed negotiations with previous owners, the Rochester Bridge Trust.

• May

The Gills’ hopes of League One survival came to an end this month as they were relegated.

A 2-1 defeat at Leeds, together with a win for relegation rivals Cheltenham, conspired to send the Gills down to League 2 for the first time in 12 years.

There was anger at plans to store 2,500 tonnes of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate at the Chatham Docks.

Arcelor Mittal Kent Wire asked Medway Council for permission to store the chemical near a major residential area.

The fiance of former Medway pub landlady Julie Butler was found guilty of her murder this month.

David Kirsch, 42, of Aldershot, Hants, was captured on CCTV strangling his victim, before beating her with a bar stool on October 8, 2007.

• June

Medway Council’s housing department promised swift improvements after a damning report into housing standards,

The Audit Comission gave a zero star rating for only the fouth time in its history when 15,000 homes were slammed as potential health hazards.

Market traders in Rochester packed up their stalls for the last time after decades of trading, despite fierce protests.

Traders were told their weekly market on Blue Boar Lane would be closed and they would have to find an alternate site or join the monthly farmers’ market on Corporation Street.

The life of a 62-year-old farmer hung the balance after he was violently gored by one of his own bulls.

Ian McLean recovered after being airlifted to a London hospital from his farm in St Mary Hoo with broken ribs, a cracked vertebra in his neck, and a collapsed lung.