Former football referee John Middleton, 75, was found with stab wounds in the bath of his home in Mombasa, Kenya, after concerns were raised when he failed to turn up to go golfing
A British man was found allegedly “hacked to death with a machete” in the bath of his Kenya home just days after claiming someone tried to poison his dogs.
Former football referee John Middleton, 75, was found with stab wounds in the bath of his home in Mombasa, Kenya, after concerns were raised when he failed to turn up to go golfing on Saturday morning, according to his club captain, Dinesh Sasan.
John, who had lived in Kenya for at least a decade, had reported to authorities that someone had tried to poison his dogs in the days leading up to his death, Mr Sasan revealed. According to local media, the machete used in the alleged attack was left behind at the scene of the crime.
Jamleck Mbuba, deputy county commissioner for the Kisauni constituency, revealed there appeared to have been “a slight struggle”. However, he told NTV Kenya: “The scene was not very disturbed.” It has been reported locally that nothing was stolen from the property.
John’s housekeeper raised concerns after he failed to answer the doorbell on Saturday morning. The British High Commission is now investigating and a post-mortem was due to be carried out. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed it was “supporting the family of a British man who has died in Kenya and are in contact with the local authorities”.
Tributes have flooded in for the 75-year-old, with friends praising John as “a wonderful guy”, who was a keen golfer and played at the Nyali Golf and Country Club.
Mr Sasan told the BBC: “I used to be with him three or four times a week. We were all sitting together on Friday evening. He was very polite, he would stick to his principles and was very helpful. I am totally shocked. It is beyond belief.”
According to Mr Sasan, the home where John lived in the Utange district, was not in a location where many expatriates lived. “Unfortunately the area he was in was not a very secure one”, he revealed. John’s ex-wife, Regina, had also been killed during a break-in in 2018 at her home north of Utange, Mr Sasan disclosed.
John, who had been an amateur football referee in his spare time in Norwich before moving to Kenya, was a “well-liked match official”, according to the Norfolk FA.
Its statement said: “John officiated for many years in the county and was a committed and well-liked match official. The thoughts of all at Norfolk FA are with John’s family and friends at this sad time.”
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