The story of the 2019 DusitD2 terror attack remains at the centre of a legal fight in Britain, after a UK court extended an order stopping former SAS soldier Christian Craighead from publishing his account in the country.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) went back to the High Court seeking to keep the restriction in place, arguing that Craighead broke a confidentiality agreement he had signed during his years in the British special forces.
The order will remain effective until the government’s legal case against the former soldier is concluded.
Craighead was among those involved in the security response after Al-Shabaab militants attacked the DusitD2 complex at 14 Riverside Drive in Nairobi on January 15, 2019.
The assault left 21 people dead, while Craighead has said his intervention helped more than 700 people escape from the hotel and office complex.
During the operation, the former soldier entered the complex carrying an SAS-issued rifle and worked alongside Kenyan security officers as they confronted the attackers and evacuated those trapped inside.
His role in the response later earned him the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, a British military award given for exceptional bravery in the face of the enemy.
Craighead later wrote One Man In, a book describing his experiences during the Nairobi attack and other parts of his career in the SAS.
The publication was not cleared by the British government, which objected to its release in the UK on grounds linked to the confidentiality obligations he had accepted as a special forces member.
The MoD says Craighead had agreed to keep information about his service confidential and could only disclose such material after receiving written permission.
During the latest proceedings in London, Oliver Sanders KC, acting for the MoD, argued that Craighead had knowingly gone against the agreement.
Sanders told the court the claim that Craighead had breached the contract was “straightforward and really unarguable”.
The book has already been released in the United States. However, Sanders argued that its publication there did not alter the government's position, saying: “the only reason it is available overseas is through the defendant’s own wrongdoing.”
Craighead did not attend the hearing and did not have legal representation at the proceedings.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Saini said Craighead had “willingly entered into” the agreement and had been “clearly and consistently told by his superiors” that publication of the book would not be allowed.
The judge said the MoD had an “overwhelming case for an injunction” and found that Craighead appeared to have committed a “flagrant breach” of the agreement, which he did “having his eyes open to the potential consequences”.
Craighead joined the British armed forces in 1992 and later served with the special forces from 2006 until 2020.
According to evidence previously presented to the court, he signed a confidentiality agreement when he joined the special forces that restricted him from revealing information about his service.
The agreement described his commitment as a “solemn undertaking binding me for the rest of my life” not to disclose information relating to his special forces service without “express prior authority in writing” from the MoD.
That written approval was not issued for One Man In.
Sanders told the court: “If he had not signed the contract, he would not have served in the UK special forces. He would not have been in Nairobi; he would not have had the training, the equipment, the weapons, or the support. While he does not like it, this is what he agreed, and as a matter of contract law it is very, very straightforward.”
The latest ruling is not Craighead’s first legal battle with the MoD over the book.
He challenged the ministry in 2023 after it refused to permit publication, but lost the case after the British government raised national security concerns.
Although the book remains blocked in Britain, it has been published in the United States, where Craighead has also spoken publicly about his account of the Nairobi attack.
The extended court order will remain in force as the wider legal dispute between Craighead and the MoD continues.