British Woman Defends Kenyan Man Jailed for Killing Her Husband

Metropolitan police during a patrol in London.
Metropolitan police during a patrol in London.
Courtesy

A British woman seeking justice for her husband who was killed in Kenya while on vacation has defended the man convicted of the murder.

According to the woman, Jude Tebbutt, their villa was raided by unknown assailants on the fateful night while they were enjoying their holiday in Kenya.

She doubts that the man who was convicted for the murder was the true culprit. Tebbutt stated that authorities "put a man in prison who shouldn't have been put in prison."

David and Jude Tebbutt
David and Jude Tebbutt
Courtesy BBC

Eleven years after losing her husband, Tebbutt told the BBC that she believes his killer is still at large.

"The real murderer of David, who can only be one of two men - and I could recognise those men today - they are somewhere, living their lives and they have got no consequences."

It has now emerged that a senior police officer with the UK police "omitted key forensic evidence" in a trial linked to the murder of a British man, David Tebbutt, and the kidnap of his wife Jude in Kenya.

A Kenyan man, Ali Kololo, was convicted of robbery with violence and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

The police watchdog in the UK stated that former officer Neil Hibberd would have a case to answer for gross misconduct had he not retired.

Hibberd was the detective from the UK who was sent to Kenya to help with the investigation. When Kololo was sentenced, the court noted that the UK detective's evidence was part of the reason for the judgment.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), in the UK, found the British cop had left out key forensic evidence and he had incorporated elements from a narrative given by Kololo. This was against the law.

"The only evidence linking Mr Kololo to the scene was the footprints from the tanga shoes. No photographs were ever produced of these prints," a complaint by Reprieve to the Metropolitan Police read.

"They did not fit Mr Kololo when he wore them in court and no forensic evidence has ever been produced to link Mr Kololo to the shoes, or the shoes to the crime scene. Mr Kololo has always denied that the shoes were his."

Hibberd furnished evidence to link Kololo to the crime scene in his formal witness statement and oral evidence in court.

Ali Kololo, was convicted of robbery with violence and sentenced to death
Ali Kololo, was convicted of robbery with violence and sentenced to death
Courtesy Sky News

But Tebbutt faulted the outcome of the case and further revealed that she can identify the men who kidnapped her the same night her husband was killed. She has maintained that it was not Kololo.

"I've always put my faith in the police to do the right thing, but this obviously highlighted that they haven't done the right thing.

"In fact, it highlights that there was some wrongdoings by a senior investigating officer, a senior member of the police force who really should have known better," Tebbutt stated.

  • . . . . . .