Agnes Wanjiru: Last moments of hairdresser allegedly killed in hands of British Soldier

More than a decade on, Kenya's High Court has now issued a warrant for the arrest of a British national accused of the murder of 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru.

The decision marks the most significant development yet in a case that has haunted her family and drawn international scrutiny since she died in 2012.

According to a detailed report by The Guardian, Wanjiru walked into the Lion's Court Hotel in Nanyuki on the night of March 31.

The bar was a favoured haunt of British soldiers stationed nearby at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), 194km north of Nairobi.

Witnesses later told an inquest they saw Wanjiru leave the bar with one or more soldiers attached to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

This was the last time she was seen alive.

Months later, her body was discovered stuffed inside a septic tank at the same hotel, bearing the marks of a violent death.

At home, her baby daughter, Stacey, was barely five months old.

The case lay dormant for years until a 2021 investigation by The Sunday Times named a suspect, a serving soldier whose identity had been known within the regiment.

Since then, Kenyan detectives have flown to the UK several times to question soldiers and former soldiers who were in Nanyuki on the night of the killing.

On Tuesday, High Court judge Alexander Muteti issued a warrant for the arrest of a British national, formally charged in Kenya with Wanjiru's murder.

Prosecutors told the court they intend to extradite him to face trial, and confirmed that UK-based witnesses would be called to testify.

If extradition proceeds, it will be the first time a serving or former British soldier has stood trial abroad for the killing of a civilian.

But for Wanjiru's family, the moment is bittersweet.

"Agnes's death has had a profound and devastating impact on our family," they said in a statement seen by The Guardian.

"It was not only the shock of losing Agnes at such a young age, but also the horrific circumstances in which her body was found and all the trauma and struggle we have endured in trying to seek justice."

Earlier this year, Defence Secretary John Healey met Wanjiru's relatives in Nanyuki, pledging the UK's "full support" for the investigation.

"In the 13 years since her death, they have shown such strength in their long fight for justice," he said.

The case will return to court in Kenya on 21 October, but no timetable has yet been set for extradition proceedings or a future trial.