An inquest in Newcastle heard that the much-loved project manager was murdered when she was struck on the head in her hotel room in Nairobi – but her attacker didn’t get far
A BBC worker was murdered in a Kenyan hotel room by an intruder who then jumped or fell to his death from eight floors up, an inquest has heard.
Kate Mitchell, 42, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, was strangled in November 2021 in Nairobi, Newcastle Coroner’s Court heard. London-based Ms Mitchell had worked for BBC Media Action as a project manager in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Zambia. The charity, formerly known as the BBC World Service Trust, works in international development and promotes democratic reporting. She had reluctantly left Addis Ababa due to the civil war in Ethiopia and was deployed in the Kenyan capital as a ‘safer’ option, the inquest was told.
But she was found in her room of the 8th floor of the Ibis hotel with a head injury after an intruder had gained entry and attacked her. Coroner Karin Welsh said: “That man either fell or jumped from the eighth floor bedroom window and he also was found deceased. That’s the totality of the information we have been from Nairobi.” A post-mortem examination when Ms Mitchell’s body was returned to the UK found that she died from a head injury and pressure on the neck. Ms Welsh, Newcastle coroner, concluded that she was unlawfully killed.
She passed on her condolences to Ms Mitchell’s family and the coroner told Pete Mitchell, her brother: “I know you still have questions, I hope they are answered for you.” Mr Mitchell told reporters after the hearing that his family was pushing the Kenyan police for information about his sister’s death. They have instructed a lawyer to push for an inquest in Nairobi which could explain more about her murder. He said: “The Kenyan police have just stone-walled any inquiries. They have refused to do anything.”
Mr Mitchell, 42, and his mother have not been given back his sister’s personal effects, including her laptop. He added: “Whatever it is that the Kenyan police are reluctant to have brought to light the collateral damage is that we don’t have answers about Kate’s death.”
Mr Mitchell, a historian, paid tribute to his sister who he said was “the smartest person I have met”. “She was lush,” he said. “She had worked in Africa for years. She was madly in love with where she lived and the people she worked with. She was professional and she was really brave. She would go to refugee camps, go to prisons and get people out of trouble. She did the work of international development and trying to empower people to create media organisations. She was also great craic, she loved a drink and was famous in Whitley Bay.”
Mr Mitchell stressed that his sister’s murder should not be seen as a risk of living in Africa. “It was femicide,” he said. “It happens in hotels. She was killed in a way women often are. It could have happened in London or Whitley Bay.” She was well known for her work across Africa with the BBC.
