A former British soldier faces extradition to Kenya over the alleged homicide of a 21-year-old girl in 2012.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) mentioned Robert James Purkiss was arrested in Tidworth, Wiltshire, on November 6 and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.
He was arrested by specialist officers from the NCA's National Extradition Unit in reference to the homicide of Agnes Manjiru after a warrant was issued in September, the company mentioned.
Mr Purkiss, 38, informed the courtroom he meant to problem extradition and was remanded in custody forward of his subsequent look on the identical courtroom on November 14.
His legal professionals informed the courtroom that he “vigorously denies” the homicide.
On March 31, 2012, three months after she went lacking, Ms. Wanjiru's physique was present in a septic tank close to a resort within the city of Nanyuki, about 124 miles (200 km) north of Nairobi. At that point he had a five-month-old youngster.
His physique was discovered close to a British Army coaching camp. On the evening she was murdered, she was reportedly at a bar with pals the place British troopers have been additionally current.
Ms Wanjiru's niece, Esther Njoki, met Britain's protection minister final month to push for Mr Purkis' extradition.
In an announcement issued by means of lawyer Leigh Day, who acted for Ms Wanjiru's household on Friday, Ms Njoki mentioned: “My family is incredibly relieved to hear that the suspect in my aunt's case has been arrested.
“We have waited years for this moment which is an important step towards finally getting justice for our beloved Agnes.”
Leigh Day companion Tessa Gregory mentioned: “This is a huge moment for our client and her family who have been fighting for over a decade to get justice for Agnes.
“We hope that the UK and Kenyan authorities will now work together to ensure that the suspect faces trial in Kenya as soon as possible.”
Ms Wanjiru's household has lengthy accused the British army of masking up her dying and Kenyan authorities of failing to correctly examine the case.
An investigation into her dying was launched in 2018 after stress from Ms Wanjiru's household, in addition to Kenyan rights teams and feminists.
In 2019, it was concluded that Ms Wanjiru was extrajudicially killed by one or two British troopers and stabbed within the chest and stomach.
Later in 2021, a Sunday Times investigation reported {that a} British soldier had confessed to colleagues that he killed Ms Wanjiru. The soldier left the military after the incident and reportedly continued to stay in Britain.
In 2024, the Army introduced it was launching an inside evaluation of the conduct of British troops in Kenya, together with Nanyuki.
It discovered 35 suspected circumstances of troopers partaking in sexual exploitation and abuse, together with sexual exploitation and abuse of native girls – 9 of which occurred after the army formally banned such conduct in 2022.
With inputs from BBC