Stephen McGown reunited with his family after six years as a hostage


Stephen McGown in a video in 2015 asking for help to be released whilst a hostage

A former Putney resident has been released six years after being kidnapped by a group associated with al-Qaeda.

42-year-old Stephen McGown had been travelling across Africa by motorbike when he was taken with two other men from their hotel in Timbuktu in Mali. The two other hostages had already been released, one during a raid by French special forces in April 2015.

Stephen, who is originally from South Africa but has British citizenship lived in Putney with his wife Catherine whilst working in London for Investec.

He was reunited with his family in South Africa on 29 July and Catherine, told the news briefing: "The first thing he said to me was: 'Your hair has grown.' I said to him 'Actually, your hair is longer than mine now.'"

South African authorities deny reports that that a £3.2 million ransom was paid for his release. His captors had previously offered to release Mr McGown in exchange for the freedom of the radical cleric Abu Qatada, who was at that point in time in British custody awaiting extradition to Jordan.

Sadly Mr McGown’s mother died while he was in captivity and he only learnt of her death after his release.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Al-Qaeda's North African affiliate had claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

August 4, 2017