Kenyan court issues arrest warrant for British national in 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru

A Kenyan High Court has issued an arrest warrant for a British national suspected of murdering 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru in 2012, paving the way for extradition proceedings from the United Kingdom, a judge said.

Justice Alexander Muteti ruled that prosecutors had provided sufficient evidence to request that the suspect be brought before a Kenyan court for trial. The judge directed that the identities of the accused and witnesses not be published, saying the restriction was necessary to protect the integrity of the trial.

Ms. Wanjiru, a mother who was 21 at the time, was last seen on March 31, 2012, after an evening at the Lion's Court hotel in Nanyuki, a town that lies close to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk). She disappeared that night and her body was recovered nearly three months later inside a septic tank at the hotel. Her family says she left behind a daughter who was about five months old when Ms. Wanjiru vanished.

Kamau Mbiu, the lawyer representing Ms. Wanjiru's family, said the ruling "paved the way" for extradition proceedings and welcomed the decision while calling for greater transparency because the case remains of public interest. A relative, Ms. Wanjiru's niece Esther Njoki, described the development as "bitter-sweet," and cautioned that the extradition process could take time.

The UK's Ministry of Defence has previously said it is co-operating with investigators in Kenya. British troops based at Batuk were reported to have been among those Ms. Wanjiru was seen with the night she went missing, a detail that helped make the case a source of public outrage in Kenya and fuelled long-running demands by the family for justice.

Legal experts say an arrest warrant issued by a Kenyan court is an early but significant step in a cross-border prosecution: it allows Kenyan authorities to request that the suspect be surrendered for trial under extradition or mutual legal assistance arrangements, but does not itself compel action by authorities in another country. Kenyan prosecutors must now pursue formal extradition requests and supply the documentation required by UK courts.

The case has attracted sustained attention in Kenya since 2012, with repeated calls from rights groups and family members for accountability. The judge's suppression order reflects Kenyan legal practice in sensitive criminal proceedings and is intended to shield witness testimony and ongoing investigative work. The court did not set a date for any subsequent hearing.

Kenyan officials and the family said they would continue to seek a full trial in Kenya. The ruling marks a fresh legal development in a long-running investigation that has remained a focal point for debates about accountability around military training facilities and the treatment of civilians in garrison towns.