Colombian mistress, 30, of Brit consul, 79, denies ‘cruel’ claims she was involved in their own kidnapping in Ecuador as pair describe horrifying ordeal for first time… and the family rift caused by their affair

The British consul and his Colombian mistress kidnapped by a gang of 15 armed men in Ecuador have spoken out about their horrifying ordeal for the first time.

Colin Armstrong, now 79, was snatched from his weekend home outside Guayaquil with his partner Katherine Paola Santos, now 30, in December 2023.

Ms Santos was strapped with what she believed to be a vest filled with explosives and told it would explode unless she followed careful orders.

Police at the time questioned why Ms Santos has been released early, probing whether she may have been part of the scheme. She has denied involvement, and investigators found nothing to link her to the crime.

‘People were cruel. I felt very sad that they could make jokes and lie about us at such a terrible time,’ she told The Times. 

The businessman, from North Yorkshire, was reunited with family days later, after promising to pay $2 million for his freedom.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Armstrong said: ‘People had warned me many times not to follow the same route to work each day or to the ranch at weekends – and to use an armoured vehicle with an escort. But I always laughed off the threat of kidnap. Then it happened.’

He described his traumatic stay at a remote farmhouse as hostage negotiators worked to secure his freedom, while his girlfriend was let out in a fake bomb vest to deliver a phone to his son.

The pair have stayed together since their experience, choosing his partner over a return to the family home. 

Colin Armstrong, then 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos are pictured together in Jamaica

Colin Armstrong, owner of the Forbidden Corner visitor attraction in the Yorkshire Dales, and head of the British Consulate in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil

Mr Armstrong described the harrowing moment gunmen burst into his 4,000-acre cattle ranch and bound his wrists with plastic ties.

‘I could see several figures in the dark. They grabbed us, so I tried to hit one of them, but what strength do I have?’ he said.

Naked, he was wrapped in a sheet and bundled into his own car with his Colombian girlfriend.

The Tiguerones gang members took the keys and smashed through the locked gate, driving him for hours through the countryside to be held at a remote farm.

In his first interview since the abduction, Mr Armstrong said that his partner had volunteered to go with him.

He said he had met ‘Kate’ in 2013 and immediately fallen in love. They began an affair, which caused friction with his Ecuadorian wife of 50 years, Cecilia.

‘I still love my wife,’ he said, adding that he has never considered divorce. 

The businessman, who had headed the British Consulate in Guayaquil until 2016, said his captors were less interested in Ms Santos when they raided his home on December 16.

But, he recounted, she insisted: ‘He’s an old man. I need to look after him or he’ll die.’

They were taken to a remote farm after hours of driving through the countryside, switching cars to avoid being followed, he told The Times.

Video footage has since emerged on social media apparently showing his glamourous girlfriend having an explosives vest removed by a bomb disposal expert

British businessman Colin Armstrong was kidnapped from his home in Ecuador in 2023

There, they were left for four days in a room with mattresses on the floor and furniture up against the window.

When they arrived, Mr Armstrong said, his captors were anxious to find out whether they had tracking chips implanted in their bodies – in case of kidnap, a growing problem in Ecuador.

He feared they might ‘produce a razor to find out’. 

Mr Armstrong had no idea whether he would survive the ordeal. He had read recently of a kidnap victim losing fingers, and offered huge sums for his safe return.

Police, meanwhile, were on the trail. The story garnered international attention, reports claiming he had been targeted by a cartel after refusing to pay protection money.

At the farm, the gunmen brought Ms Santos a jacket they said was filled with explosives. A pulsing red light, they said, was a detonator.

It would be her job to take a phone to Mr Armstrong’s son, Nick, who had replaced him as consul, to open lines of communication.

They were said to have threatened to detonate the vest if she went anywhere near a police station.

Mr Armstrong pictured upon his release from captivity, in December 2023

After being dropped off nearby and given a taxi fare to the house, she delivered the phone per instruction.

Police explosive experts rushed to the compound with a pair of scissors, told her to cut one of the wires herself, and then ran away, she told The Times.

The vest seemed to be a fake. The red light stopped flashing and she was reunited with her family.

Meanwhile, Mr Armstrong was still in captivity. His captors called Nick and demanded $5m in cash.

Nick said he would meet the demands, and alerted the embassy in Quito, the capital. The British government urged their counterparts in Ecuador to do all they could to help resolve the situation.

Soon after, members of the gang were arrested in Guayaquil. The leader of the gang threatened to kill Mr Armstrong, citing the efforts of the Ecuadorian President to interfere.

Hostage negotiators worked carefully in the delicate hours that followed to keep Mr Armstrong alive and bring down the ransom.

Eventually, they agreed to release him if he paid $500,000 a week over the course of a month.

British businessman Colin Armstrong and his partner, Kate

Director General of Investigations Freddy Sarzosa speaks to the media after Colin Armstrong, a businessman and Britain’s former honorary consul in Guayaquil, was rescued by police after he was kidnapped on Saturday, in Quito, Ecuador December 20, 2023

Mr Armstrong promised he would pay out, and was freed ‘by a roadside near a brothel’.

Police picked him up from the scene and he was taken to see a doctor, ‘in pretty good shape’, considering.

Police released a picture which showed him wearing a baseball cap, slightly out of focus, as per local law, flanked by two police officers. He appeared fit and well. 

Mr Armstrong was met by Cecilia and two daughters at the family home, five days before Christmas.

He said he recounted his story to them over a bottle of wine. 

Police chief Cesar Zapata said the motive for the crime was ‘economic’ but he would not indicate how much if any of a ransom was paid. 

Armed officers were seen in shared video footage racing down a dirt track on their way to raid a farmhouse.

They said they confiscated a huge stash from the gang, including five grenades, six firearms, 1,500 cartridges, 30 detonating fuses – and ‘several kilos’ of controlled substances.

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