Army 'ignored multiple reports a Brit soldier murderer a young mum'

Army chiefs and military police ignored multiple reports a British soldier had murdered a young mother, a bombshell new probe has 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 took part in a night of drunken debauchery involving group sex with local prostitutes, with one saying they had been shown her body that evening by her alleged killer, known as Soldier X, it has previously been reported. 

A new investigation has now claimed British Army officers from the Duke of Lancaster Regiment and The Royal Military Police (RMP) did not act on reports a British soldier had killed someone on the night on March 31, 2012. 

It comes as more whistleblowers from inside the regiment, including a section commander, came forward naming the alleged murderer - whose name is 'widely known' in the unit - as a probe into the killing, involving Kenya's 'FBI', continues. 

The Sunday Times claimed the alleged murderer was collected in a military truck with a number of other troops, before getting into an argument with one of them, Soldier Y, who told him: 'I will never forgive you for this,' having reportedly been  shown the sex worker's body the night before.

The alleged murderer then told another soldier in the transport vehicle that he 'strangled her, but I didn't kill her', The Times reports. 

Now, instead of investigating the allegations, it is claimed Army officers told soldiers to 'keep quiet' and hush up incident - or they would be forced to stay in Kenya, the paper reports. The unit flew back to the UK the next day. 

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Despite both Soldier Y and X being called in to the offices of the RMP, no report about the incident was filed and sent to Kenyan police. 

The Times says when the body of the sex worker - who had a five-month-old daughter - was found, the army did not tell Kenyan authorities the alleged murder had been reported shortly after it occurred. To date, nobody has been arrested or charged.

It comes weeks after one trooper, known as Soldier Z, claimed the identity of Agnes' murderer is widely known and that one senior member of the force would even joke with her killer saying: 'OK [Soldier X] no strangling people this weekend.' 

Joseph Kotrie-Monson, a criminal lawyer, claimed Soldier Y's witness statement could lead to a murder charge in the UK. 'A witness has been shown the body by the killer. That's compelling evidence for any jury,' he told The Sunday Times.

Meanwhile, the British government has repeatedly said the murder probe is under their Kenyan jurisdiction and blamed local authorities for failing to ask for help and agreeing a framework for mutual legal assistance. 

As previously reported, 600 British troops from three regiments had been involved in battlefield training when they were given two days of leave before the deployment wrapped up. 

On the night of the alleged killing, a large group of British squaddies had ended up at the Lions Court hotel, a popular drinking spot, before having a party. 

However, the morning after rumours soon started to swirl that Soldier X had murdered Ms Wanjiru, with the news of the alleged incident spreading like wildfire once troops returned to their camp. 

'We had a good night. Had drinks. Got up in the morning then went back to camp. When we got back to camp the rumour was flying around,' a section commander told the Sunday Times. 

'Did you hear the rumour about [Soldier X] killing a brass [prostitute]? Apparently he killed a brass and threw her in a septic tank.'

As previously reported, Soldier X burst into a bar crying about the alleged killing before later showing Soldier Y the woman's body.  

Speaking in 2021, Soldier Y said: 'He took me to the tank and lifted it up, and I looked in and I just remember seeing her in there. My heart sank. My mind just went blank. The only thing I could say to him was: 'I'll never forgive you for this'.'

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Agnes' body lay in the tank for three months before it was discovered, by which time the British troops had long since departed Kenya.

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

But the British Army has never held an inquiry and none of those present on the night have been questioned by superiors.

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.

Soldier Y has also accused the army of a cover-up, saying he told 'the proper people' about the alleged killing.

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'.'

He recalls 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, it was previously claimed.

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.

But no action was taken and neither he nor others present at the hotel were ever questioned by the army, he says.

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.'

Soldier Y says he does not recall the sex game story and says he does not know what happened, other than: 'He definitely did it. A thousand per cent, it was him.'

Both Soldiers X and Y were taken to the RMP offices at their camp, where the allegation was reportedly told to military investigators. 

Agnes' body was found on June 5, 2012, in the septic tank - exactly where Soldier Y had claimed it had been left by the alleged killer. 

Local police interview the young mother's friends, who claimed to have seen her walking with a soldier before she disappeared. 

On June 16, Kenyan police met the serious investigation branch of the RMP, A letter was also sent, asking for information of nine soldiers who had been on the hotel register at the time - soldiers X and Y were not among them, 

A letter, seen by the Sunday Times, dated that day showed the RMP responded with limited information about the nine soldiers - giving just their name, rank, regiment and when they left Kenya. 

No further detail was give. But the RMP said in its letter it would 'continue to assist' local police with their probe, adding urging the force to get in touch 'if we can be of any further assistance'. 

The nine soldiers named were not interviewed at the time. 

Detectives were said to have asked the RMP to put 13 questions to the soldiers, including whether any of them had sex with Ms Wanjiru on the night she disappeared.

The MoD said they never received any such request and DNA samples were never provided, causing the inquiry to stall.

Despite a file being sent to Kenya's Director of Public Prosecution in 2012, nothing further happened for seven years, until the inquest in 2019. 

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

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'.

The Ministry of Defence insists it is support the investigation into the incident, 

A spokeswoman for the MoD told MailOnline: 'The Defence Secretary [John Healey] has long recognised the tragic circumstances of Ms Wanjiru's death and maintains his commitment to the pursuit of justice for Ms Wanjiru, and for Ms Wanjiru's family as a priority.

'Since his appointment to the role, he has directed that the department should take every possible step to ensure the fullest cooperation with the Kenyan authorities in this matter.

'The Kenyan authorities have jurisdiction on this matter and we are fully cooperating with them on their investigation.'