Photo: The Telegraph

British tourists, David and Judith Tebbutt,  arrived at Kiwayu Safari Village, an exclusive Kenyan resort, at 4PM, Saturday.  Between midnight and 4AM, a gang of armed men arrived by speedboat and stormed their beachfront villa.  David Tebbutt, 58, was killed and his wife Judith, 56, is believed to have been kidnapped by the gang, which fled north by boat in the direction of Somalia.

No group, thus far, has claimed responsibility for the attack. If the attack was made by Somali pirates it will be the first time that  they  have ventured ashore to kidnap their victims. It has also been suggested that  the attackers were from the Islamist group, Harakat al-Shabab al Mujahideen.  The government of Kenya has deployed helicopters, speed boats and a spotter plane to search for Judith Tebbutt but no sightings have been reported.

Pirates kill Brit David Tebbutt and kidnap wife

David Tebbutt served as finance director for publisher Faber & Faber, and was widely respected in th English publishing community.

Tributes pour in for “calm and wise” David Tebbutt

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for pointing out the story.