Family of killed Kenyan woman tell of 'heavy toll' of justice fight

The family of a Kenyan woman who was allegedly killed by British soldiers have said their 13-year fight for justice has taken a heavy toll and they have been offered "too many empty promises" after a meeting with the defence secretary.

- Hannah Al-Othman

Agnes Wanjiru was 21 when she disappeared in March 2012. She was last seen in the company of British soldiers in a bar in a hotel in Nanyuki, a town in eastern Kenya where the British army has a military base, BATUK.

Her body was found two months later inside a septic tank at the Lion's Court hotel. Six years ago, an inquest in Kenya found she had been murdered by one or more British soldiers.

In 2021 a suspect was named by several soldiers who at the time were attached to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. One provided startling testimony in which he claimed that the killer, a fellow soldier, had confessed to him on the night and shown him Wanjiru's body in the septic tank.

Police have now concluded their investigations and submitted a file to prosecutors in Kenya.