Judith Tebbutt relives kidnap from Kenyan beach resort

Mrs Tebbutt, from Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, said that soon after she and her
husband arrived for their two-week stay at the Kiwayu Safari Village in
Lamu, she felt nervous about security. They were also the only guests.

“I thought to myself that this was pretty weird,” she said. “I was beginning
to get this very strange feeling that something didn’t feel right.” Her
husband reassured her by saying it would be “a Robinson Crusoe experience”.
On their first night, the couple had walked along the beach to enjoy a fish
supper before heading back to the room. “We just got straight into bed and
when we slept, we normally started off sleeping holding hands, we always did
that,” she said. “The next thing I was aware of was David. I remember him
shouting ‘What the —- is going on?’

“He looked as though that he was grappling with something that was taller than
him. I couldn’t see anything or anyone. I was then aware of someone prodding
me. 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.

“I got pulled out of bed. One man was holding the tops of my arms very tightly
and pulling me towards the door. 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.”

Moments later she lost sight of her husband and was dragged to a waiting boat.
The pirates punched her, hit her with their guns and pulled her hair when
she stumbled, she said.

“We continued running on the sand and I was thinking that this was good
because this would leave footprints,” she said. “I remember being pulled
into the water and I could see a boat because the moon was very bright. I
remained calm and did not panic. Then I was lifted up and thrown into the
boat where I sat.

“We sped off. We just went straight out to sea. 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’.”

As they neared land, the kidnappers ordered Mrs Tebbutt to lie down and
covered her with a tarpaulin.

“The next thing I remember was the boat slowing down and I then sat up
immediately and was aware that it was dawn,” she said. “We were coming into
a mangrove swamp.”

Mrs Tebbutt gave no further details about her time in captivity, nor did she
say when she realised her husband was dead. She was released in March after
her son, Oliver, reportedly paid a ransom. The case continues.

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