UK court denies bail to ex-soldier wanted in Kenya over 2012 killing

A former British soldier accused in the death of a young Kenyan mother more than a decade ago has been refused bail in London.

Robert James Purkiss, 38, from Tidworth in Wiltshire, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court following his arrest on 6 November. Kenya is seeking his extradition over the killing of 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru, who died near a British Army training camp in Nanyuki in 2012.

Prosecutors told the court that Purkiss allegedly confessed to at least one fellow soldier, saying he had killed Wanjiru during a night out at a hotel close to the base. Her body was found three months later in a septic tank at the same hotel. She had a five-month-old baby at the time of her death.

Purkiss’s lawyers say he strongly denies the allegations and plans to fight the extradition. He was detained by specialist officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency after a warrant was issued in September.

Wanjiru was last seen at a bar where British troops were drinking. Years of pressure from her family and Kenyan rights groups pushed authorities to reopen the case, leading to a 2018 inquest.

The inquest concluded in 2019 that she had been unlawfully killed, identifying stab wounds to her chest and abdomen and pointing to one or two British soldiers as responsible.