Attempted Murder of American and Irish Couple in Kenya

Online, July 5, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Man saves family by fighting off armed attackers

Nairobi, Kenya - A married couple returning home from dinner Friday night were attacked by a gang of 5 men armed with guns and axes as they stopped to open the gate to their home.

Karen Police Inspector Maranga described the failed home invasion attack as particularly brutal.

"Mr. Mike Minihane opened the gate for his wife to drive through when the gang approached him at gunpoint and attempted to force him to enter the car where his wife waited. Mr. Minihane then grabbed the gun and began to fight the men, whereupon they attacked his face and head with axes. The wife, hearing the commotion behind the car, sped up to the house to push the panic button and lock her young son away upstairs." The gang escaped on foot. However, the next day massive amounts of blood, several teeth and a severed ear were found at the scene.

Home invasions, murders, car jackings and other violent activity towards expatriates and tourists are a common occurrence in Kenya but attract little or no coverage in the press.

"We don't want to lose tourism dollars," confessed one safari owner speaking anonymously. "The absolute truth is that if you live in Kenya for any length of time, you will be carjacked, killed, kidnapped or your home invaded. It's just a fact a life out here."

Fighting a weak tourism economy since the bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, the government controlled press does its best to keep information, statistics or reportage on attacks and home invasions to a minimum.

"The most common attack we have is the home invasion where the gunmen wait at your gate," said Inspector Maranga. "They then enter your car at gunpoint and force you into your home where they spend the entire evening locked in your home with you. Usually rape is involved. When Mr. Minihane fought off the attackers it gave his wife the seconds she needed to escape. He probably saved his family's life although he unfortunately lost his face in the process."

Mr. Minihane underwent 6 hours of emergency surgery at Nairobi hospital and suffers from a missing nose, a fractured skull, broken teeth, fingers reattached and several hundred stitches. He remains in critical condition.

Mike Minihane and his wife Christine, a United Nations contractor, await the response of BUPA who are denying their claim and refusing to repatriate them back to their home country stating that their worldwide coverage policy excludes the country of Kenya.
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For more information please contact Nigel Patterson at [email protected]