A mum who put up a £10,000 reward to catch a burglar who raided her home has been charged with kidnapping a young man.

Tracy Taylor, 41, of Frindsbury Road, Strood, offered the reward after her home was burgled while she and her family were at a funeral.

Now she has been charged with kidnap along with two men after a 20-year-old man was allegedly bundled into a car on the Promenade in Leysdown.

Taylor's partner Anthony Charles, 43, of Hawthorn Road, Strood, has also been charged along with another man, Johan Van Vurren, 37, of Oldbury Lane, Sevenoaks.

The trio appeared in court on Monday after being arrested on Sunday on the A249 just past the Sheppey Crossing.

An eyewitness said: "I thought there had been an accident at first because you sometimes see a police car blocking traffic towards the bridge at Cowstead Corner.

Thieves burgled Tracy Taylor's home

"But as I was diverted on to the old road towards the Kingsferry Bridge, I noticed the car had been stopped by two police vehicles, which were parked ahead and behind it and it was clear there was more to it."

Burglars broke into Taylor's house and prised a safe off the wall in the basement and made off with it and the contents on Monday, July 31.

Taylor, a personal trainer, said there was a substantial amount of money in the safe along with some jewellery.

At the time, she said she knew immediately something was wrong as she could see a kitchen window was open. When her partner Anthony Charles went into the basement of the home, he discovered the safe had gone.

After the burglary Taylor put up a poster in her window so people in the area would notice the appeal.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Officers received a report of a suspicious vehicle on The Promenade in Leysdown on Sunday, August 5, at 12.37pm.

"Officers attended and located the vehicle on the A249 just over the bridge.
“The car was stopped and the occupants spoken with.

"Whilst officers were at the scene the road was closed and reopened at 3.18pm.
Three people were subsequently arrested and were charged with kidnap.

"All three appeared before Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on Monday, August 6, and have been bailed to appear before Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, August 20."

Three people were later arrested over the burglary, but have now been released without charge.

An earlier version of this story stated the kidnap charge related to a child under the age of 16, based on information provided by Kent Police.