A UK court has extended an injunction preventing a former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier from publishing a book detailing his involvement in a counter-terrorism operation in Nairobi, Kenya. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) applied for the injunction to remain in place until its ongoing legal action against the soldier, identified only by the pseudonym Christian Craighead, is resolved.

Craighead, who was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross—a decoration second only to the Victoria Cross—for his role in an incident following a 2019 al-Shabaab attack in Nairobi, claims to have saved more than 700 people from a hotel complex under assault by armed militants. The attack resulted in the deaths of 21 people.

The MoD argues that Craighead’s book breaches a confidentiality agreement he signed upon joining the UK special forces. This contract forbids disclosure of information relating to his SAS service without prior written permission from the MoD, which has not been granted in this case. The agreement binds Craighead “for the rest of his life,” underscoring the MoD’s position that the soldier knowingly violated the terms.

During the hearing in London, Oliver Sanders KC, representing the MoD, stated that the claim of confidentiality breach was “straightforward and really unarguable.” He also noted that although the book has been published in the United States, its availability overseas was a result of Craighead’s own actions. Craighead did not attend the court hearing or have legal representation.

Mr Justice Saini extended the injunction, emphasizing that Craighead had “willingly entered into” the agreement and was repeatedly informed by his superiors that publication would not be permitted. The judge described the MoD’s case for the injunction as “overwhelming” and characterized Craighead’s conduct as a “flagrant breach” of the contractual terms, done with full awareness of potential consequences.

Craighead previously lost a legal challenge against the MoD in 2023, in which the government cited national security concerns as the basis for refusing to authorize the book’s publication. Craighead served in the armed forces from 1992 and was a member of the UK special forces between 2006 and 2020. According to court documents, his confidentiality undertaking was a condition for his special forces service, with Sanders underscoring that without signing the contract, Craighead would not have had access to the training, equipment, or operational deployments such as the Nairobi mission.