Met Police in Kenya for kidnap hunt

David Tebbutt, 58, and his wife Judith, 56, were on holiday at the remote Kiwayu Safari Village, close to the Kenyan border with Somalia, when the attack happened during the early hours of Sunday.

According to reports, the attackers broke into the couple’s accommodation at the Kiwayu Safari Village resort, which consists of 18 luxury cottages spread along a private beach.

Now police investigators from the UK are on their way to Kenya to help find Ms Tebbutt, who is believed to still be held by the kidnappers.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard 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.”

Kenyan military

The Kenyan military has joined the hunt for Mrs Tebbutt, who is believed to be deaf.

There have also been reports that a man has been arrested over the attack – District Commissioner Stephen Ikua was quoted by The Times as saying that a local man had been arrested on suspicion of helping co-ordinate the attack and was being held at a police station on the nearby island of Lamu.

The whereabouts of Mrs Tebbutt and her kidnappers remain unknown, although there are suspicions that the kidnap gang, which is thought to be from Somalia, used a speedboat to get away from the isolated island resort.

Channel 4 News Foreign Correspondent Jonathan Rugman blogs on who could be responsible for the attack