Court orders arrest of British soldier over 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru
Agnes Wanjiru was last seen on March 31, 2012, drinking with British soldiers at the Lion's Court Hotel in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, where the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is based.
The High Court has issued a warrant of arrest against a British soldier accused of murdering a Kenyan woman, Agnes Wanjiru, in Nanyuki more than a decade ago.
Justice Alexander Muteti granted the orders following an application by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which sought the suspect's arrest. The matter will be mentioned on October 21, 2025, to confirm the progress of the execution of the warrant.
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According to court records, Wanjiru, then aged 21, was last seen on March 31, 2012, drinking with British soldiers at the Lion's Court Hotel in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, where the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is based.
She later disappeared, and after a two-month search, her body was found dumped in a septic tank at the hotel. Postmortem results showed she had been stabbed several times.
An inquest conducted six years ago concluded that Wanjiru, who left behind a baby daughter, was killed by one or more British soldiers.
In 2021, several soldiers attached to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment came forward with evidence, naming a fellow soldier as the key suspect. One of the soldiers testified that the suspect had confessed to the murder and even led him to view Wanjiru's body inside the septic tank.
While a British soldier has long been treated as the prime suspect, Kenyan authorities maintain jurisdiction over the case under the UK-Kenya defence cooperation agreement.
In April this year, police confirmed they had forwarded the investigation file to the ODPP for a decision on whether to proceed with charges, paving the way for the current court application.
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