By Faith Nyasuguta
A British soldier was fined and discharged after confessing he had lifted the skirt of a Kenyan woman in a Kenyan mall in a Nanyuki, a UK paper has reported.
According to the Sunday Times, the soldier, a colour sergeant or equivalent rank of a warrant officer, was drunk and the woman was known to him.
The paper described the soldier as a Colour Sergeant Barlow and clarified that the information about the woman’s humiliation emerged only last week.
He is said to have pleaded guilty to sexual assault, slapped a fine of £500 (Sh75,913) and dismissed from the military.
“It is understood that Colour Sergeant Barlow lifted the skirt of a Kenyan woman, whom he knew, in a shopping mall in Nanyuki while intoxicated. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault and alongside dismissal was served with compensation order of £500,” the paper reported.
The British army has a training base in Nanyuki, Kenya. A British Army spokesman said the conduct of the soldier was disgraceful.
“This was appalling behaviour from a senior non-commissioned officer,” the spokesperson said.
The fresh revelation follows hot on the heels of a blockbuster report by the same paper late last week revealing that yet another British soldier allegedly murdered a Kenyan sex worker in Nanyuki in 2012.
The paper revealed that the soldier posted about the murder on Facebook, making fun of the crime with seven or eight colleagues.
The serviceman is accused of killing sex worker Agnes Wanjiru who was 21 at the time, on March 31, 2012, while she entertained him at a Kenyan hotel.
Three months later, her body, full of stab wounds, was found in a septic tank in the hotel and the soldier had jetted back to the UK before the body was discovered.
In contrast with the latest case, no action was taken against that officer in 2012.
A few reports showed that Kenyan authorities feared aggressive investigation and action could imperil the diplomatic and security arrangement between Kenya and UK. The UK provides a major boost to the Kenyan economy.
However, Kenyan police inspector Hillary Mutyambai announced on Monday that police will reopen the probe into the murder.
On Monday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence welcomed the report saying that the department stands ready to cooperate with Kenya in going after every fact in the case in search for justice.
“The UK stands ready to support all requests as we have done since day one,” the ministry’s spokesperson said.”As with other investigations, we always work in partnership with the Kenyan police and, subject to international and judicial processes, our help will always be forthcoming.”
It has recently emerged that the Kenyan police were going slow on the probe over fears that aggressive investigations would imperil the robust bilateral relations between the two nations.
The British Defense Minister Ben Wallace is expected in Kenya this week over the Wanjiru murder.
1 Comment
This is not good. The activities of these soldiers should be kept in check!