Met officers fly to Kenya in search for kidnapped wife

Judith Tebbutt, 56, was snatched from the remote Kiwayu Safari Village, close to the Kenyan border with Somalia, by a gang who killed her 58-year-old husband David. Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed officers have travelled to Kenya to help the country’s authorities.

A spokeswoman said: “A small team of Metropolitan Police Service officers have travelled to Kenya to assist and support the Kenyan authorities with their investigation. The Kenyan authorities remain the lead investigators.”

Mr Tebbutt was shot when the gang raided the couple’s beach cottage in the early hours of Sunday morning. His wife, believed to be deaf and to wear a double hearing aid, is said to have been bundled into a boat which sped away from the isolated island resort, which has hosted artist Tracey Emin and actress Imelda Staunton.

There has been speculation that the gang, thought to be from Somalia, are from al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group al-Shabaab, which holds much of southern Somalia.

The Tebbutts, from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, had come from visiting the Masai Mara game reserve and were the resort’s only guests.

The hunt for Mrs Tebbutt continued yesterday and police in Kenya are reported to have arrested a man suspected of being involved in Mr Tebbutt’s murder and the kidnap of his widow.

The Ministry of Defence has refused to comment on reports that British special forces have been drafted in to help the rescue effort, and are compiling information to mount a rescue mission.

The Met Police spokeswoman said the team of officers would also be helping in the repatriation of Mr Tebbutt’s body.

She added: “The officers have travelled at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and with agreement of the Kenyan authorities.”

Kiwayu Safari Village issued a statement yesterday, saying everyone at the resort was “devastated” by what had happened.

It said: “We wish to extend our deepest condolences to the Tebbutt family and their many friends. Our thoughts are with them as we pray for Judith’s safe return.

“We are offering every assistance we can to help with the investigation and wish to express our sincere thanks to the Kenyan security services and the British authorities for all that they are doing.”

The Foreign Office said a team has been deployed to the area from the High Commission in Nairobi and called for those involved in the kidnapping to “show compassion”.

Family and friends of Mrs Tebbutt may be forced to wait several days before the kidnappers deliver their demands, an expert said. Kidnap-for-ransom consultant Ben Lopez said it is now a “waiting game” to see what the gang want.

Hostage negotiator Mr Lopez, who works for Compass Risk Management which specialises in the prevention and mitigation of incidents of kidnap, maritime piracy and extortion, said: “We don’t know if it’s al-Shabaab or a regular kidnap-for-ransom.

“In general if it’s a kidnap-for-ransom then frankly the authorities’ hands are tied because no government wants to be seen as negotiating and/or doing business with kidnappers because if it ever got out then no British national would be safe again.

“The police tend to have a similar approach. And here, the problem is it seems likely that the kidnappers are in Somalia where there are no authorities.”

He said it was likely the kidnap was planned, rather than opportunistic, and it could be some days before the kidnappers got in touch.

“In general, kidnappers tend not to be opportunistic because the risk of being caught is too high. It seems more likely that somebody on the inside alerted them to the fact that some people were there and the coast was clear to come get them.”