Former British soldier accused of murdering Kenyan woman appears in court

A man has appeared in court as extradition proceedings began in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday , and told the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been charged with a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would seek his extradition to face charges.

Purkiss served formerly as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night out, and her body was found two months later in the grounds of the hotel where she had last been seen.

Nobody had previously been arrested or charged in connection to her death. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which came after a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper approached several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

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