Former British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Woman Appears in Courtroom

A man has shown up before a judge as deportation processes commenced in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester, appeared before the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the deportation. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday evening.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was authorized by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

Purkiss previously worked as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her body was located after two months in the grounds of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

Nobody had previously been arrested or accused in connection to her death. The arrest of Purkiss followed a fresh police investigation, which followed a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The investigation has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.