Freed Briton tells of Somalia kidnap ordeal
Judith Tebbutt describes her time as a captive after she is released by kidnappers who snatched her and killed her husband from a Kenyan island beach hut seven months ago.
Ms Tebbutt told ITV News that she had faced “hard psychological moments” while she was held, and that she had been moved from “house to house”.
The 56-year-old had been staying at the Kiwayu Safari Village resort on the Kenyan coast when Somalian gunmen stormed their beach hut, shooting dead her husband, David, 58, and bundling her into a speedboat to take her across the border to Somalia.
She told how her son, Oliver, had enabled her release, but spoke of the difficulty of being forced to grieve for her murdered husband while in captivity. In a statement she said: “my joy at being safe again is overwhelmed by my immense grief, shared by Ollie and the wider family, following David’s passing in September last year.”
However she said that the pirates who abducted her had made her “feel as comfortable as possible”.
She was handed over to regional administration officials this morning after her captors received a ransom that had been air-dropped, a pirate identifying himself as Ahmed said.
Speaking after her release, she said: “I’m very relieved to have been released. Seven months is a long time and under the circumstances, with my husband passing away, it made it harder.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my son who successfully secured my release. I don’t know how he did it, but he did.”
“There were some very hard psychological moments, but I got through it so I’m really relieved. I was moved around a bit from house to house.”
She added: “My condition is good as far as I know. My health is good. I sleep very well here. I have been ill three times in the seven months. On each occasion, I have had medication almost immediately and it’s cleared up.
“I feel fine. I have had absolutely no torture whatsoever. In fact I have been made to feel as comfortable as possible by the parates that are holding me.”
Ransom
She is now said to be on a plane from Adabo in central Somalia to Nairobi. Omar Mohammed Diirey, a regional administration official, said: “After efforts today, we have succeeded in the release of the British woman. She just left from Adado airport to Nairobi.”
British foreign office consular staff are on stand-by to provide her with care when she arrives in the Kenyan capital.
A spokesman for David Cameron denied that a ransom had been paid. “Our position is that we do not pay ransoms and we do not facilitate concessions to hostage-takers.”
But he refused to confirm whether officials had advised her family on whether to pay a ransom or not. He said: “All I can say is that we have been in close contact throughout.
“We have obviously been providing support to the family and been in close contact with the family throughout and have been meeting regularly to discuss the case.”
Pirates
Ms Tebbutt arrived on the exclusive Kiwayu resort with her husband, who worked for the publisher Faber and Faber, after several days touring Kenya.
They had the beach to themselves when they arrived.
But that night, a gang arrived on boats and raced on to the beach and targeted the couple.
At the time, Kenya’s government blamed the incidents on the militant group, al-Shabaab, which is said to be linked to al-Qaeda.
Al-Shabaab denied it was behind the kidnappings, and pirates said they were holding the holidaymaker.
Weeks after Ms Tebbutt was seized, attackers abducted a disabled French woman from another beach in northern Kenya and two Spanish aid workers from a refuggee camp in east Kenya.
A spokesman for David Cameron denied that a ransom had been paid. “Our position is that we do not pay ransoms and we do not facilitate concessions to hostage-takers.”
But he refused to confirm whether officials had advised her family on whether to pay a ransom or not. He said: “All I can say is that we have been in close contact throughout.
“We have obviously been providing support to the family and been in close contact with the family throughout and have been meeting regularly to discuss the case.”
Pirates
Ms Tebbutt arrived on the exclusive Kiwayu resort with her husband, who worked for the publisher Faber and Faber, after several days touring Kenya.
They had the beach to themselves when they arrived.
But that night, a gang arrived on boats and raced on to the beach and targeted the couple.
At the time, Kenya’s government blamed the incidents on the militant group, al-Shabaab, which is said to be linked to al-Qaeda.
Al-Shabaab denied it was behind the kidnappings, and pirates said they were holding the holidaymaker.
Weeks after Ms Tebbutt was seized, attackers abducted a disabled French woman from another beach in northern Kenya and two Spanish aid workers from a refuggee camp in east Kenya.