CAPTAIN CHARGED WITH MURDER
DEATH OF AFRICAN WORKER
NAIROBI, November 25. A captain of the Durhams, charged with murder, was alleged at his courtmartial today to have told a company sergeant-major “he could shoot anybody he liked —provided they were black.”
Captain Gerald Selby Lewis Griffiths, a Regular Army officer of the Durham Light Infantry, attached to the King’s African Rifles, pleaded not guilty to the murder of an African forestry worker, Ndeewga, during an anti-Mau Mau operation. The prosecutor, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Parker, said the alleged murder took place on the road during a sweep of a nearby forest by Kikuyu home guards. Three African civilians were stopped by Sergeant-Major Llewellyn’s post on the road and shortly afterwards Griffiths—then a major—arrived in a jeep with a Eren gun on a swivel mounting. Griffiths, who appeared to be in a great rage, asked the sergeant-major why he had not killed them. Griffiths examined the passes of the three Africans. He told the oldest of them to walk back to the rear of the jeep and ordered the other two to walk forward.
“Then, when they got 10 yards ahead of the jeep, Griffiths cocked the Bren gun and discharged a burst into their backs,” the prosecutor said.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27208, 27 November 1953, Page 11
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206CAPTAIN CHARGED WITH MURDER Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27208, 27 November 1953, Page 11
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