British troops 'joked with killer about death of Kenyan mother'

Senior members of the British Army joked about the murder of a Kenyan mother with her alleged killer, it has been claimed.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, was last seen alive with British troops at a hotel in Nanyuki in March 2012, before her mutilated naked body was found with stab wounds dumped in a septic tank three months later near an army base.

Soldiers who took part in the drunken and debauched night of group sex with local prostitutes said they were shown her body that evening by her alleged killer, known as Soldier X, it has previously been reported. 

A British soldier, known as Soldier Z, claims the identity of Agnes' murderer is widely known and one senior member of the force would even joke with her killer saying: 'OK [Soldier X] no strangling people this weekend.' 

The sickening revelation is made in a new ITV documentary The Base: A British Army Scandal which airs tonight at 10.20pm. 

Members of Soldier X's regiment allege the name of her killer was an open secret, with five different soldiers identifying the same person to the Sunday Times. 

An inquest was held in Kenya in 2019 in which a judge ruled the mother was 'murdered by British soldiers' but no subsequent action was taken by the army.

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Soldier Z served in Kenya with the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment in 2012 and left in April that year, a month after Agnes' killing. 

He says in the documentary the murder was an 'ongoing joke' and he remembered being in his army camp when Sky News that British troops were being linked with her death, reported The Sunday Times. 

'I remember everyone watching it,' Soldier Z said. 'I think Soldier X might have even been there when it came on the news.' 

The defence secretary, John Healey, has said he will meet Wanjiru’s family. 

British troops were banned under the previous government of paying for sex. But further allegations emerge in the documentary that soldiers had flouted the rules and continued to do so. 

It hears from previous Defence Secretary Ben Wallace who says: 'I was very clear, in my time as secretary of state, that the use of brothels by soldiers had to stop.'

The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation into the new allegations that soldiers were using sex workers in Kenya.  

An MoD spokeswoman said: 'We take these allegations extremely seriously, and the army will launch an inquiry into the conduct of those who have been deployed to Kenya.

'We expect the highest standards from our personnel, are committed to preventing sexual exploitation in any form and, through our zero-tolerance policies, will hold to account anyone found to be involved.'

In May this year, a landmark parliamentary public inquiry in Kenya heard allegations of human rights violations by British troops. 

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The inquiry was largely sparked by Agnes' brutal killing and heard claims that the British army's Batuk base and Kenyan authorities were involved in a 'cover up', reported the BBC. 

Ms Wanjiru's niece Esther Njoki told one of the hearings: 'We want closure, we are demanding justice.'

General Mark Carleton-Smith, then head of the army, said in October 2021 he was 'determined' to support Kenyan local authorities to 'establish the facts as quickly as possible'. 

Another soldier, known as Soldier Y, recalled in 2021 Soldier X bursting into the bar where the other soldiers were partying and appeared visibly distressed, saying: 'Help me, help me.... I've killed her'.

He then escorted a group of them to the septic tank behind one of the hotel's lodges where he opened the lid and showed the young mother's body.

Soldier Y says he returned to the bar and told others about what he'd seen before the evening was cut short by RMP who turned up and scolded the soldiers for sneaking out of their base.

He claims that when he returned to camp, he told senior officers about what had happened at the hotel while Soldier X remained silent.

He said: 'Everyone. All the lads, all the senior command that were there. I went to higher up, hierarchy, people that should have dealt with it. I got called a liar. They basically just said, 'Shut up and get out.''

Another in the regiment, Soldier Z, said Soldier X told colleagues he had killed Agnes by accident during sex after choking her.

The belief that it was an accident may have led to other soldiers keeping quiet about the incident because of the 'code of silence' in the army.

It later transpired that Agnes had been stabbed to death, and she also suffered blunt force injury to her chest and her lungs had collapsed.

Soldier Z said: 'We thought she choked during sex, that it was an accident. That's completely different from stabbing someone to death and putting them in a septic tank.'