By James Simons-
A former British soldier who is facing extradition to Kenya in connection with the death of a young mother while on deployment has been denied bail.
Robert James Purkiss, 38, from Tidworth near Salisbury, Wiltshire, appeared at Westminster Magistrates earlier following his arrest on 6 November.
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The court heard he told at least one army colleague how he had killed Agnes Wanjiru during a night out at a hotel near his military training camp in March 2012.
The 21-year-old, who had a five-month old baby, was discovered in a septic tank near the hotel in the town of Nanyuki, three months after she had gone missing.
Mr Purkiss’ lawyers previously told the court that he “vehemently denies” murder and intended to contest the extradition.
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Agnes Wanjiru,(pictured) who was 21 when she was killed, had just recently become a mother.
Mr Purkiss was arrested by specialist officers from the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) National Extradition Unit after a warrant was issued in September.
Lawyers representing the Kenyan authorities say Purkiss’ fellow soldiers allege he confessed to the crime on the night of Wanjiru’s killing and shortly after.
Wanjiru’s murder has strained relations between Britain and Kenya, where her family and rights groups say the killers were being shielded by a defence cooperation agreement that complicates prosecution of British soldiers training in Kenya.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in September it remained committed to helping Wanjiru’s family secure justice.
Wanjiru’s body was found in a septic tank at the Lion’s Court Hotel in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki in June 2012. Wanjir had last been seen with a group of British soldiers on the night of March 31 and April 1, 2012.
Joel Smith, a lawyer representing Kenyan prosecutors, said Wanjiru had gone to the hotel with two friends, leaving her baby daughter to be cared for by a friend.
“At about two o’clock in the morning, Ms Wanjiru left with one of the soldiers and as she left (told her friends) she was going to hustle for her daughter,” Smith told the court. “She was never seen alive again.”
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