Judith Tebbutt: UK hostage kidnapped in Kenya freed

 

A Briton seized in a raid in Kenya, in which her husband was killed, has been freed after six months held in Somalia.

Judith Tebbutt, 56, from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, was flown to Nairobi after a ransom, raised by her relatives, was paid for her release.

She told ITV News she was "very relieved" to be free and looking forward to seeing her son Oliver.

Her husband David, 58, was shot by a gang of six men at their remote holiday resort in Kiwayu, north of Lamu island.

'So delighted'

Mrs Tebbutt, a social worker, who is believed to be deaf and was wearing a double hearing aid, said: "I'm very relieved to have been released. Seven months is a long time. Under the circumstances, with my husband passing away, it made it harder.

There will be enormous relief at the release of Judith Tebbutt after her terrible ordeal.
Her family were able to raise a ransom to pay for her freedom. But this should not obscure the fact that some 230 people are still being held in Somalia - most by pirates.
The majority will have been captured from merchant vessels and many are from third world countries and receive almost no publicity.

Others, like the South African couple, Bruno Pelizzari and Debbie Calitz, were captured by pirates in October 2010 and could not afford the $4m being asked for their release.

Some hostages have been freed by US special forces - but these operations can go badly wrong.

Attempts to rescue a British and Italian hostage in Nigeria earlier this month ended with both being killed.

"I'm just happy to be released and I'm looking forward to seeing my son who successfully secured my release. I don't know how he did it, but he did, which is great."

In Nairobi, she will be looked after by officials from the British embassy before being flown back to the UK to be reunited with friends and relatives.

It is understood her son Oliver will be in the city to greet her.

Richard Harrington, the Conservative MP for Watford, where he lives, said he had met the prime minister regularly to discuss Mrs Tebbutt's kidnap.

He told the BBC: "I've waited for this day for so long I can't tell you, I mean my feelings are obviously nothing compared to those of the family, but I'm just so delighted that this has happened and that Oliver will be reunited with his mother."

Mrs Tebbutt was seized on 11 September last year from Kiwayu Safari Village, a luxury resort on a deserted stretch of Kenyan coastline, comprised of thatched cottages on the beach.
The couple had arrived only the previous day and were the only guests.
She was taken away in a speedboat, possibly by Somali pirates, after Mr Tebbutt had been killed.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said a private security company secured her release, not British officials.

He said it was unclear how much money was involved, and revealing the amount was generally discouraged to avoid copy-cat gangs.
Paying the ransom was not illegal because it was not known to be going to a terrorist organisation, he added.
"She will now become the key witness in the on-going murder investigation of her husband David," our correspondent said.
East Africa correspondent Will Ross in Nairobi said the ransom was paid in the last three days.
"The British government does not pay ransoms, it's against the idea, but it certainly doesn't seem to have stood in the way of the family to secure Judith Tebbutt's release," he said.
Police in Kenya said six gunmen had burst into their room and officers speculated that Mr Tebbutt may have tried to resist the gang.
He worked for publisher Faber & Faber and sat on the board of the Book Trade Charity, which supports those in the book trade.
Book Trade's chief executive, David Hicks, said of Mrs Tebbutt's release: "This sounds wonderful, though I'll only really be happy when it's definite that she's safe."

British police officers were sent to Kenya to help with the investigation.
The Kenyan government said at the time it believed the al-Shabab Islamist group, which has since merged with al-Qaeda, was behind the murder and kidnap. The group denied the allegation.

Last October Kenya sent troops into its neighbour in pursuit of the militants and in support of the weak interim Somali government, which controls only the capital, Mogadishu, and a few other areas.
Last year, two men appeared in court in connection with the attack, with both denying the charges.
One of them, Ali Babitu Kololo, told the court he had been forced at gunpoint to lead a group of men to the hotel and had not been a willing accomplice.