The African state’s authorities have been seeking the extradition of Robert James Purkiss over an incident from 2012
A former British soldier has been arrested in the UK for allegedly murdering a Kenyan woman more than a decade ago.
Robert James Purkiss, 38, appeared in a London court on Friday for an initial extradition hearing, a day after he was seized in Tidworth, Wiltshire, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
“He was remanded into custody until his next appearance at the same court on 14 November,” the NCA said in a statement.
The East African country’s top court issued an arrest warrant in September and sought the extradition of a British national over the murder of Agnes Wanjiru, who went missing in 2012 and whose mutilated body was found weeks later in a hotel septic tank near the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK). The 21-year-old had reportedly spent a night partying with British soldiers, and a postmortem recorded a stab wound and other injuries.
A 2019 Kenyan inquiry found British soldiers responsible for Wanjiru’s death and recommended further investigation. In 2021, a British soldier reportedly confessed, but prosecutors did not file charges until now.
The case has strained relations between Nairobi and London, particularly over which jurisdiction covers British soldiers who violate Kenyan law. BATUK has repeatedly asked the Kenyan High Court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction over any case involving a UK Army unit in the country.
However, Mbiyu Kamau, a lawyer representing the victim’s family, has disputed the British Army’s position. In September, Kamau told RT that London had “not been cooperative.”
Allegations of crimes committed by British troops in Kenya, including rape, murder, and environmental pollution, date back decades. An internal investigation published in August by the UK Ministry of Defence found British soldiers in Kenya had been violating a law introduced to curb sexual exploitation and abuse in the country.
In June, the ministry reported the arrest of a “service person” in Kenya in connection with a matter that “is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Defence Serious Crime Command.”
