{"id":12502,"date":"2026-04-12T21:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/12502\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:11:33","slug":"police-operation-underway-in-sittingbourne-with-police-cars-seen-in-west-street-close-to-the-golden-hope-wetherspoons-pub-and-in-aldi-car-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/12502\/","title":{"rendered":"Police operation underway in Sittingbourne, with police cars seen in West Street, close to The Golden Hope Wetherspoons pub and in Aldi car park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A police operation is currently underway in Sittingbourne with armed police seen in several locations in the town.<\/p>\n<p>Officers, in six marked police cars and one unmarked car, pulled up in Chalkwell Road this evening.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 4032 2882\" alt=\"Armed police in Chalkwell Road, Sittingbourne\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"ESD0GC7NNOY8M4Y8AWVU.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.40\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ESD0GC7NNOY8M4Y8AWVU.jpg\" alt=\"Armed police in Chalkwell Road, Sittingbourne\"\/>Armed police in Chalkwell Road, Sittingbourne<\/p>\n<p>Some armed, they were seen heading down an alleyway with police dogs. Officers also entered a house in the road.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier today, police cars and officers were also spotted in Aldi car park, in East Street.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, six police cars were also seen in West Street in the town centre this afternoon, close to The Golden Hope Wetherspoons pub.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 2822 1825\" alt=\"Six police cars and one unmarked car pulled up in Chalkwell Road\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"JZY8M24C9MYWGPZQINPJ.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.55\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JZY8M24C9MYWGPZQINPJ.jpg\" alt=\"Six police cars and one unmarked car pulled up in Chalkwell Road\"\/>Six police cars and one unmarked car pulled up in Chalkwell Road<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 3926 2960\" alt=\"Multiple police cars in the Aldi car park in East Street, Sittingbourne\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"LEGV4SZLVLVAI65TK88S.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.33\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LEGV4SZLVLVAI65TK88S.jpg\" alt=\"Multiple police cars in the Aldi car park in East Street, Sittingbourne\"\/>Multiple police cars in the Aldi car park in East Street, Sittingbourne<\/p>\n<p>It comes as a police helicopter has been circling the town throughout the day.<\/p>\n<p>KentOnline has approached Kent Police for comment about the activity, but has yet to hear back.<\/p>\n<p>There is speculation on social media that the operation is linked to the hunt for two men in connection to the fatal stabbing of Ashton Harrington.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 1567 1160\" alt=\"Police in West Street, near the top of Sittingbourne High Street\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"S7G48JKNKG5UU3R64W1O.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.35\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/S7G48JKNKG5UU3R64W1O.jpg\" alt=\"Police in West Street, near the top of Sittingbourne High Street\"\/>Police in West Street, near the top of Sittingbourne High Street<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 629 459\" alt=\"A police helicopter circling above the Snips Hill area in Sittingbourne this afternoon\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"C5GBOH295QD0S7FUWOLA.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.37\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/C5GBOH295QD0S7FUWOLA.jpg\" alt=\"A police helicopter circling above the Snips Hill area in Sittingbourne this afternoon\"\/>A police helicopter circling above the Snips Hill area in Sittingbourne this afternoon<\/p>\n<p>He died on Good Friday in Belmont Road, Whitstable.<\/p>\n<p>An air ambulance landed on nearby Westmeads Recreation Ground at about 3am, but the dad-of-one sadly died at the scene.<\/p>\n<p>It is believed he was known to the offenders.<\/p>\n<p>Four arrests have been made in connection to the stabbing.<\/p>\n<p>Officers attended an address in Sittingbourne on April 8, where two women aged 22 and 24, and a 26-year-old man were all arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.<\/p>\n<p>A 21-year-old man from Sittingbourne was also arrested on suspicion of the same offence on April 5.<\/p>\n<p>They have all been bailed pending further enquiries.<\/p>\n<p>But officers say they are still looking to locate two men they believe could help with inquiries.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 772 550\" alt=\"Ashton Harrington died in Belmont Road in Whitstable after being stabbed. Picture: Harrington family\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"MPZ6FV8MY1JJU33UISH4.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.40\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MPZ6FV8MY1JJU33UISH4.jpg\" alt=\"Ashton Harrington died in Belmont Road in Whitstable after being stabbed. Picture: Harrington family\"\/>Ashton Harrington died in Belmont Road in Whitstable after being stabbed. Picture: Harrington family<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 1016 724\" alt=\"From left, Kieron Barnes and Tobias Agbaje. Picture: Kent Police\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"SURWYO3CXL6ICMVK2PT6.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.40\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SURWYO3CXL6ICMVK2PT6.jpg\" alt=\"From left, Kieron Barnes and Tobias Agbaje. Picture: Kent Police\"\/>From left, Kieron Barnes and Tobias Agbaje. Picture: Kent Police<\/p>\n<p>Detectives would like to locate Tobias Agbaje and Kieron Barnes, as they may have information which could assist their investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Police have been asked to confirm if this is why they are in Sittingbourne today.<\/p>\n<p>More as we get it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A police operation is currently underway in Sittingbourne with armed police seen in several locations in the town.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[61,309,1104,1071,5,6,1094],"class_list":{"0":"post-12502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-kent","10":"tag-police-appeals","11":"tag-sittingbourne","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-whitstable"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116393796192150254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}