Ex UK Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenya Female Shows Up in Courtroom

An individual has been presented in court as deportation processes commenced in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the extradition request. It is understood that he was detained on Thursday night.

An arrest warrant for the defendant was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been charged with a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

Purkiss previously worked as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, 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 body was discovered two months later in the grounds of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

No one had previously been taken into custody or charged in association with her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a new police inquiry, which came after a report in the year 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The investigation has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.