Former UK Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

An individual has been presented in court as extradition hearings began in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was murdered near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, appeared before the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the deportation. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday evening.

A detention order for the defendant was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

The defendant was once employed as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, went missing after a night on the town, and her remains was located two months later in the grounds of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Nobody had before been arrested or charged in relation to her passing. The arrest of Purkiss followed a recent detective probe, which came after a exposé in the year 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

The investigation has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the case.