A Nairobi court has ordered the arrest of British-Kenyan lawyer Guy Spencer Elms after he failed to appear for a hearing in a case where he faces multiple forgery-related charges.
Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekubi issued the warrant on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, after the prosecution told the court that Elms had ignored a lawful summons requiring him to attend. The magistrate ruled that the accused must be brought to court on Monday, August 11, 2025, to take a plea.
The court heard that Elms’ lawyer had asked for more time, saying his client was outside the country attending to a sick child and had already booked a return ticket to appear in court as required. However, Magistrate Ekubi said there was no sufficient reason for the failure to attend and allowed the prosecution’s request for a warrant of arrest.
Charges and past controversies
According to the charge sheet, Elms is accused of making and using forged legal documents and of trying to acquire property worth millions of shillings through the use of those documents. Prosecutors claim that on or before March 24, 1997, he made a false will purporting it to be the genuine will of the late businessman Roger Bryan Robson.
Lawyer Guy Spencer in court during a past incident. Photo: Nation Source: X
It is further alleged that in February 2015 he knowingly presented the forged will to an officer at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters in Nairobi. He is also accused of making a forged power of attorney in January 2010 in Robson’s name, and later presenting it to the same DCI officer.
The prosecution alleges that in October 2013, Elms attempted to use the forged will to claim two parcels of land in Karen, valued at KSh 100 million, by obtaining a grant of probate through fraudulent means in a succession case involving Robson’s estate.
This is not the first time the lawyer has faced controversy. In 2019, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations questioned him in connection with a KSh 21 billion dam scandal, although he denied involvement.
Between 2013 and 2018, he was charged in another high-value property dispute in Karen, though that case was later withdrawn. In June this year, a company accused him in court of falsifying company documents in a succession dispute. In past years, he has also been linked in media reports to wildlife smuggling and the Anglo-Leasing scandal, but no charges were brought in those matters.
The case will be mentioned again on August 11 when Elms is expected to appear to answer the charges.
