UK couple seeks justice over their son’s death in Kenya

Tears flowed as an inquest into the death of British aristocrat Nicholas Monson’s son, Alexander, began Monday.

Ms Hilary Martin, Alexander’s mother, emotionally recounted the events that preceded the death of her “gentle and lovely” son, a 28-year-old psychology graduate who ran a bamboo plantation business in Diani, Kwale County.

Alexander John Ruman Monson, the son of Baron Nicholas John Monson, was arrested outside a club in Diani for allegedly smoking bhang.
He was taken to a hospital a few hours later, where he died. His family blames police for his death.

Yesterday, Ms Martin told the inquest, which is taking place in Mombasa, that she was in Nairobi when she received a call on May 19, 2012 from her son’s friend, informing her he had been arrested.

She called her friends who live in Diani, around 6am, and she was informed that police would not let her son out until the station commander arrived, she told Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Richard Odenyo.

She secured a flight to Diani and went straight to Palm Beach Hospital near the police station, where Alexander had been taken.

TAKING DRUGS
“He was chained (handcuffed) in the bed and three policemen were guarding him,” said Ms Martin, who wore a bright multi-coloured lesso dress written in Kiswahili: “Mama ni nambari moja, Kwani hana mpinzani (mother is number one, she has no competitor).

She sat with her son for less than an hour before he died, she told the court. “It was a shock to discover he had been assaulted.”
She said her son liked to party with his friends, mostly on weekends, and that before he came to Kenya, she had a discussion with his father.

“I believe in England he was actually taking bad things. He did go through a bad patch, but that does not make him a bad person,” Ms Martin said, adding that she had never seen Alexander taking drugs.

Mr William Anthony Kennaway, another witness who also lives in Diani, said his wife received a call from Ms Martin, who requested that he goes to the police station to bail Alexander out.

Mr Kennaway said he went to the station and informed the officers that he wanted Alexander granted bail, but was told to wait for a chief inspector.
The witness said he saw Alexander in a cell and an officer told him he would not be released until the matter is investigated further.

Mr Kennaway, a retired pilot, said he returned to the station later and found Alexander lying in a corridor and breathing heavily.

“I tried giving him water. He could not take it. Looking at him, I became worried.”

Mr Kennaway then went to the hospital and asked for an ambulance, which collected Alexander, he said.
The inquest continues.