UK Court Extends Injunction Blocking Former SAS Soldier’s DusitD2 Book

A United Kingdom High Court has extended an injunction preventing former British special forces soldier Christian Craighead from publishing in Britain a memoir about his involvement in the 2019 DusitD2 terrorist attack in Nairobi.

The order followed an application by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), which argued that publication would breach a lifelong confidentiality agreement Craighead signed while serving in the UK Special Forces.

Craighead was serving in Kenya when Al-Shabaab militants attacked the DusitD2 hotel complex at 14 Riverside Drive in Nairobi on January 15, 2019. The attack killed 21 people, according to the High Court's 2023 judgment, and triggered a major security response.

Dispute over memoir

Craighead's book, One Man In, contains his account of his involvement in the response to the attack.

The former soldier has said that he helped evacuate hundreds of people from the complex during the operation. His actions during the incident were subsequently recognised with the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, a British military decoration for exceptional gallantry during operations against an enemy. The MoD itself acknowledged in earlier court proceedings that Craighead had served the UK with honour.

The Ministry of Defence, however, has maintained that the book contains information covered by Craighead's confidentiality obligations.

Court documents show that members of the UK Special Forces are required to obtain express prior written authority before disclosing information about their work. The MoD refused that authorization for Craighead's memoir, citing national-security concerns.

Court extends injunction

In the latest proceedings, the MoD argued that Craighead had knowingly breached the confidentiality agreement.

According to reporting on the ruling, Justice Saini said Craighead had voluntarily entered into the agreement and had been clearly and consistently informed by his superiors that he would not be permitted to publish the material without authorization.

The judge concluded that the MoD had a strong case for maintaining the injunction and found that Craighead appeared to have breached the contractual obligations he had accepted.

Craighead did not appear in court and was not represented during the latest hearing, according to the Guardian.

Previous legal challenge

The dispute over the memoir dates back several years.

In 2023, Craighead challenged the MoD's refusal to authorize publication, arguing that the decision unlawfully interfered with his freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The High Court dismissed his judicial review challenge. The court noted that the MoD's refusal was based on its assessment that publication of material covered by the confidentiality agreement could damage national security.

The 2023 proceedings were partly conducted in private because the court determined that publicly examining the national-security assessment could disclose the very information the restrictions were intended to protect.

Book published in the United States

Although publication has remained restricted in Britain, One Man In has been published in the United States.

The latest proceedings therefore continue a legal dispute that has placed Craighead's account of the Nairobi attack at the centre of a wider debate over confidentiality obligations, freedom of expression and national security.

For now, the extended UK injunction means the memoir remains subject to restrictions on publication in Britain while the legal obligations arising from Craighead's former special-forces service remain in force.