The trial of a man accused of murdering British tourist Julie Ward in Kenya 10 years ago is due to begin on Monday.

Her burned remains were found in September 1988 in the Masai Mara game reserve where she had been on safari.

Her father John Ward has led a long, hard-fought battle to bring the case to trial. He has had to overcome an official cover-up, lies and bungling. More recently he has been closely involved with a new police investigation.

John Ward: Spent 10 years trying to bring Julie's killers to justice

John Ward calculates that the hunt for the killers of his daughter has cost him around a million pounds. With a trial now at last about to start he has taken a flat in Nairobi - a place that he has come to know well and where he is very well known.

Each twist in the case has meant a round of visits to law officers, prosecutors and police.

John Ward has delved through the often corrupt, frequently inefficent Kenyan court system. He has been interrogator, investigator and at all times, the bereaved.

He has been there for every major court appearance. Sitting in silence absorbing every detail, and working out tactics for overcoming every obstacle.

Simon Ole Makallah: Prosecution witness at a previous trial

At first the Kenyan authorities said that wild animals were responsible for his daughter's death. It was an argument that John Ward angrily dismissed.

"Did the animals set her remains alight too?" he asked. He won the argument at an inquest and amid claims of a cover-up, detectives from Scotland Yard were invited to look at the case.

Their investigation resulted in murder charges being brought against two wardens in 1992. They were found not guilty.

Since then Mr Ward has continued with his own inquiries. His loudly-voiced dissatisfaction with the Kenyan authorities eventually led them to a change of heart. A special police squad was established and Mr Ward has had considerable influence on their activities.

It is this latest effort that has resulted in the case against the former chief warden, Simon Makallah, who was the man who found Julie Ward's car soon after the search for the missing 28-year-old began in September 1988.

The case against one of the two men charged with her murder was dropped earlier this month.