Four Kenyan policemen will stand trial for murder after a judge ruled they have a case to answer in the death of British aristocrat Alex Monson.
The policemen – Naftali Chege, Charles Wangombe Munyiri, Baraka Bulima and John Pamba – are accused of killing the 28-year-old son of Nicholas, the 12th Baron Monson, in 2012.
Monson, an heir to the family estate in Lincolnshire, was found dead in his cell after being arrested for smoking cannabis.
2013: Hilary Monson, Alexander’s mother, outside a police station in Kenya after marking a year from his death
The police said Monson died of an overdose, but his mother Hilary told the court that her son had not been a drug addict at the time of his death.
Two reports by government pathologists said Monson had died after suffering a traumatic blow to the head.
An inquest found there had been attempts to cover up the incident, and threats against witnesses.
The ruling is the result of an inquest that began in 2019 in Mombasa in a case seen as a test of whether Kenya’s security services can be held accountable for the use of excessive force and extrajudicial killings.
The judge said no evidence was presented in court to show
Monson was assaulted elsewhere other than within the police station after he was detained.
Forty-five witnesses including police officers testified during the inquest.