UK Soldiers Linked With Death Of 'Prostitute'

The British Government is assisting Kenyan authorities investigating allegations British soldiers murdered a 21-year old Kenyan woman.

Agnes Wanjiru-Wanjiku disappeared from a hotel in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki on March 31. Her body was found on June 5 inside a septic tank on the hotel grounds.

According to sources in Kenya speaking anonymously to Sky News, witnesses in the town claim they saw Ms Wanjiru enter the hotel on March 31 with two British soldiers.

Ms Wanjiru is said to have worked as a prostitute in the town, which is used by the British Army as a training base for soldiers before deployment to Afghanistan.

But Sky News can now reveal that the UK Government has been aware of the incident and the accusations since Ms Wanjiru's body was found.

The extent of the cooperation between the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Kenyan Police is not clear.

An MoD spokesperson said: "This is an ongoing Kenyan investigation. We understand that individuals who were in the local area, potentially including some military personnel, may be called on as witnesses in the case.

"We stand by to offer any assistance and co-operation that is required. As this is an ongoing Kenyan investigation it would be inappropriate for the Ministry of Defence to comment further."

There has been frustration in Nanyuki at an apparent lack of impetus in the investigation.

Documents passed to Sky News from Social Watch, a Kenyan human rights organisation, reveal this frustration.

"Nanyiki Police is accused of taking a casual stance in the matter," the letter to the Kenyan Director of Public Prosecutions reads.

"The (Nanyuki) police station is also accused of not (being) willing to pursue British Army personnel who act with impudence."

The letter, from James Maina Mugo, executive coordinator for the Social Watch group, outlines the allegations.

It claims that "a night guard witnessed a fierce fight in the room Wanjiru and the British soldier were occupying".

"We are pleading with you to monitor the CCTV photo print-outs to ascertain what happened. The family have been left with a baby girl aged six months."

Another letter passed to Sky News is from the office of the Kenyan Director of Public Prosecutions to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Kenyan Police Force.

"I have been directed by the Director of Public Prosecutions to urgently call for ... a progress report on the case," the letter reads.

"The complainant has intimated that there is laxity on the part of the police to conclusively investigate the case and bring the culprits to book despite willingness by witnesses to come forth and testify." the letter says.

Agnes Wanjiru's badly decomposed body was discovered inside a septic tank at the Lion's Court Hotel by a cleaner. She was buried in a local ceremony on June 16.

Thousands of British soldiers pass through the town of Nanyuki every year as part of their pre-deployment training for Afghanistan.

Most visits pass without incident, but in April, 200 soldiers were involved in a bar brawl at the Sportsman's Arms in Nanyuki.

The bar was said to have been destroyed and some of the soldiers were airlifted to hospital in Nairobi. The MoD is investigating that incident.