Former British Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Appears in Court

A man has appeared in court as deportation processes commenced in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the extradition request. It is understood that he was detained on Thursday night.

A detention order for Purkiss was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors told the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a sole charge, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

He served formerly as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her remains was found 60 days later in the grounds of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

Nobody had before been taken into custody or charged in relation to her passing. His detention was the result of a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a report in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the publication reached out to several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The probe has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the case.