Six months with the Shabaab

“On Saturday, September, 10 2011 we arrived by small plane at Kiwayu Safari Village about 4pm. When we got off the plane we met a couple who were waiting to board. The woman said to us she didn’t want to go because they had such a lovely time. I remember at this point thinking to myself that this is going to be a great holiday,” Judith Tebutt began her testimony.

Dressed in a black suit and white blouse narrated the wonderland story that turned out to be a nightmare hours later.

She said they were driven in a golf buggy from the airstrip to the hotel, where they realised, after lunch, that they were the only guests.

“We got out at Kiwayu and went into the dining area where we were asked if we wanted to have anything to eat. I had a piece of cake, which was in the shape of a heart, which was really nice. David had some pasta and salad. At this point I remember thinking it was really odd, because there was no one else there.

“We were then joined by George Moorhead, the owner. I asked him where everybody was and he said that we were the only couple there until Tuesday or Wednesday I believe. I thought to myself that this was pretty weird. I was beginning to get this very strange feeling that something didn’t feel right, and I didn’t feel comfortable.”

Mrs Tebbutt described how the couple were led along the beach to a grass banda, their accommodation. She admitted that she felt uneasy as she realised there was no security.

“David and I entered the banda, which was absolutely huge. I remember saying to David, ‘I’m not sure about this, because there’s no doors or windows.’ He replied ‘No, this is going to be a Robinson Crusoe experience.’

“I remember thinking to myself that I was not sure if I liked a Robinson Crusoe experience. I wanted somewhere I could lock and again, it just didn’t feel right, it didn’t feel comfortable, but that was just a feeling.”

Massive room

Mrs Tebbutt recalled how the bedroom’s front door was simply a roller blind and described the inside of the massive room, which had hammocks, a bookcase, sleeping and dressing areas and a bathroom with twin sinks.

“We had a shower in the shower area, and again I remember thinking it’s a bit too open for my liking because you had to go out of the side of the banda. The shower cubicle was actually separate, although not too far away from the banda, and you could see what looked like jungle all around. I thought ‘I’ve never been anywhere like this before,’ but it appeared very nice and very luxurious.”

Mrs Tebbutt told the court how they later walked along the beach to the restaurant where they had dinner – fish and potatoes. She said it suddenly struck her that they should put their valuables in the hotel safe.

“As we were having something to eat, I noticed one of the employees sat over to our left against the wall, and I remember saying to David, ‘Do you think we ought to put our passport and any money in the safe?’

David replied, ‘Oh, yeah, we will sort that out.’”

The Tebbutts then had gin and tonic while chatting with the hotel owner at the bar and then returned to their banda.

Mrs Tebbutt, who has a hearing problem, said she changed into her pyjamas and put her jewellery in a wooden box in the bedroom.

Hearing aids

“I undressed and put on pyjama bottoms and a little vest top. We prepared for bed, cleaned our teeth, had a wash and put jewellery in the wooden box. When I say jewellery I mean it was my earrings, three tiffany bangles and my watch which operates my hearing aids.”

Mrs Tebbutt said her husband was wearing just a pair of white underpants.

“We just got straight into bed and when we slept, we normally started off sleeping holding hands – we always did that. We were pretty tired and David turned off the lights. The next thing I was aware of was that the lights were on and I heard David and he must’ve been shouting, because I didn’t have my hearing aids in, and I remember him shouting, ‘What the f*** is going on?’

“And I remember looking over to my right and he was standing up around the right hand bottom corner of the bed. He looked as though that he was grappling with something that was taller than him, because his arms were raised above his shoulders. I couldn’t see anything or anyone. I was then aware of someone prodding me at my shoulder and at the same time I realised that the sheets were off the bed.

“I looked and saw there were two men there, both had rifles, and I remember thinking, ‘I wonder if this is security or something’ because it was just so unreal. David was still grappling or fighting with something.

“I got pulled out of bed. I remember shouting, ‘What’s happening? What’s happening?’ and I could still see David and the next thing I knew I was out of the door. The roller blind was up at this stage. The path to the beach was quite narrow, so I was running sideways down still being held very tightly.

“I screamed twice and on my second scream I was hit around my head. Not very hard or anything, it was a bit pathetic really. It was just like a little tap. At this stage we were on the beach running very fast and I was getting out of breath.

“I stumbled and was pulled up by my hair, but I was able to reach back and I scratched a hand or something. I got hit in the lower back by what I assumed was the butt of a rifle because I had seen them pointing rifles at me in the room. We continued running on the sand and I was thinking that this was good because this would leave footprints, but then we veered into the water and then veered back again into the sand.

Oh Christ

“I’m not sure how long we did this for but it didn’t seem very long. But I remember then being pulled into the water and I could see a boat because the moon was very bright. I remember thinking, ‘Oh Christ, they are going to put me in the boat, where on earth are we going to go? What’s going to happen?’

I was also saying to them, ‘take me back to the room’. I remained calm and did not panic. Then I was lifted up and thrown into the boat where I sat.

“I could see bright yellow square plastic containers. I was put on one of those containers with the two men. We then sped off. I remember the moon being on my right hand side and we just went straight out to sea between the headland and an island. I eventually could not see any land at all.”

There were five men on the boat with her. She said she got to know some of them during her time in captivity – Ali, Ibrahim and Abdullah.

She added that she gave nicknames for the other two, Leader Man and Nameless.

She described how she realised the gang planned to demand ransom for her release after she asked Nameless what they were doing.

“I remember saying, ‘Where are you taking me? What’s going to happen?’ and this person was rubbing his thumb and fingers saying, ‘Money, money, money.’

I thought, ‘Ok, so I’m being kidnapped for money. Well, that’s okay, because they will just ask for some money, it will be paid and I will go home.’ I remember thinking this was not going to be for long, so I just had to stay focused and don’t panic.”

Mrs Tebbutt said she believed Leader Man had been the attacker who fought her husband.

“At the front of the boat was Leader Man. He was looking at me and I didn’t like the look of him. He was very stocky and strong looking and I remember thinking that it would make sense if it was him David was grappling with because David was a pretty strong guy.”

The widow described how the small speedboat bounced over the waves in the pitch darkness and said she was given a blanket, black tracksuit trousers and a coat to keep warm.

At one point the speedboat appeared to run out of petrol but the gang managed to get it restarted before stopping on the shore to refuel.

The gunmen would later order her to lie down and covered her with a tarpaulin. At dawn, the boat swept to the shore.

“We were coming into a mangrove swamp. I had no idea where I was or what was going to happen, but I was still very calm. I thought the last thing they need and I need was for me to panic and risk getting myself shot. We steered into this mangrove swamp and I was carried out of the boat into the water and it was quite shallow, and I had to then walk on dry land.

“Abdullah gave me his brown leather sandals to wear, because there were a lot of sharp stumps in the shallow water. I remember just standing there in this area that was very sandy and very thorny underfoot, and I then watched them all pull the boat under the mangroves, so it was hidden from view.”

Mrs Tebbutt spent six months in captivity until March 19 when she was released.

She did not go into detail about her time as a hostage and did not describe how or when she learnt that her husband was dead.

Mr Kololo, a father of two, was arrested days after her kidnapping and has been charged with violent robbery and kidnapping.

Mrs Tebbutt told the court she had not seen him on the night of her abduction but said the gang of five had told her a sixth man was involved.

“Since my return from captivity, I have seen pictures on the Internet in the presence of my son Oliver of a black male in a green T-shirt who was obviously handcuffed and detained in Kenya in relation to the death of David. Prior to seeing these images, I had never seen this man. He was not one of the men that took me out of my banda, who were present on the boat or held me during my time in captivity.

“I am aware from a conversation that I had with Ali whilst I was in captivity that the a sixth member of the pirates had been left behind during my kidnap. Ali informed me he had been told about this man, but he had never met him himself and knew little else about his circumstances.

Was abducted

“Although I have never seen this man before, I cannot say he was not in the banda when I was abducted. David was grappling with someone I could not see, so there could have been other people in the banda I am unaware of.”

Mrs Tebbutt gave descriptions of her kidnappers: Leader Man was a black male with one his front two teeth so brown it almost appeared like it was missing.

Ali was six feet four inches tall and gaunt, with a goatee dyed red. He spoke English and told her he had been conscripted to join the kidnappers at gunpoint two days before her abduction because he was able to navigate the ocean by looking at the stars.

Mrs Tebbutt described Abdullah as a muscular male who was five feet, four inches tall. He looked like the late soul singer Marvin Gaye and claimed to have been kidnapped by the pirates.

The widow said Ibrahim was around 25 years old with a receding hairline. Nameless was around 20 years old with a goatee.

None of the five attackers has been arrested and it is believed they are in Somalia.

It is believed the widow’s release came after her family arranged to pay a ransom to the gang.