Kent police launch investigations into stabbing and fatal hit‑and‑run

On 31 July 2026, Kent Police were called to a residential address on Gillingham Road in Gillingham after a 40‑year‑old man was found with stab wounds. He was treated at a local hospital and later discharged. Police said the victim knew his assailant and a 33‑year‑old local woman was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender; she was subsequently released on conditional bail.

In a separate incident, 29‑year‑old Albanian national Albert Matraxhiu drove at 76 mph in a 40 mph zone on the A289 Gads Hill, struck 89‑year‑old pedestrian Tom Wallace and left him on the roof of his car for nearly a mile before Wallace fell and died. Matraxhiu and his passenger Erald Paci fled the scene, but were later apprehended. Matraxhiu pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without a licence or insurance and perverting the course of justice. He was sentenced to nine years and ten months in prison and a six‑year driving ban. Paci received a 15‑month sentence, suspended for time already served. Detective Inspector Zoe Wilczek said, “Matraxhiu’s dangerous and amoral actions have taken a man’s life and shocked the local community.”