The manager of a hotel where a British contractor was killed during a siege by Isis-linked terrorists has defended his decision to flee earlier in a helicopter with two dogs.

Timothy Roberts insists he had been ordered by the owners of the Amarula Hotel in Mozambique to get on the helicopter, which had cost £11,200 to charter.

The pilot told an inquest that the dogs were put in the hold, and did not take up spaces that could have been used by other evacuees. 

Mr Roberts has been accused of 'abandoning' the hotel shortly before contractor Philip Mawer, 58, died fleeing in a road convoy when his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The inquest at Winchester Coroner's Court heard that Mr Mawer had been working in the East African country for 18 months when the coastal town of Palma was ambushed by militants from the Islamic State-backed group Al-Shabaab in March 2021.   

He had been offered the chance to evacuate on a different helicopter but turned it down, 'insisting women and children went first' before joining the ill-fated convoy of vehicles trying to reach safety. 

Mr Mawer, originally from Somerset, was working as a project manager for RA International, which was contracted to build workers' accommodation for 'the largest gas operation in Africa', run by French multinational firm TotalEnergies.

At an inquest into Mr Mawer's death today, Mr Roberts said he had tried to get Mr Mawer to leave earlier, but he had refused. 

In a statement he said he had got to know Mr Mawer well during the Covid lockdown in 2020 and was concerned for him. 

He said after hearing shouts of 'Allahu Akbar' close by he tried to arrange an evacuation on March 24. 

'I phoned my contacts and told them we had been compromised and had no weapons. I called everyone, police, and told them we had to get out. Nothing occurred,' he said. 

'They were rescuing governors and staff. When I asked if they could rescue other people I was told they could not.

'I called Phil as I was concerned for him and told him to get on, but he said no. He wanted women and children to go first.

'After the fourth flight we were told they had no fuel and with daylight diminishing it couldn't fly.

'The guests all became quite sombre as they all thought they would be saved and they hadn't been. The fighting intensified.'

Two days later he said he was told a helicopter was coming to get them. 

'I believed that were we to stay we would have been killed. We were merely sitting ducks,' he said. 

'I called everyone together and said we needed to leave as soon as possible.

'I was then instructed by the hotel owners that a helicopter was coming and I should get on it.

'At 15.15 hours [the] convoy left. A helicopter came in and I was evacuated. At the same time I was told the convoy had been targeted.'

Simon Everett, chief executive of Everett Aviation – which rescued the hotel manager and the two dogs – said 'his company had no responsibility to evacuate people.'

He said: 'I've known the manager of the hotel for a long time and Tim Roberts, known as Robbie. We were good friends

'The only reason we were there is he telephoned my general manager and asked to be rescued because insurgents were advancing on the hotel.

'I authorised them to rescue him, three staff members and his two dogs.

'It was a four-seat vehicle and I was told the two dogs did not take any seats.

'In hindsight I should never have made the decision to authorise the rescue. It was too dangerous. The pilot could have been killed as well as the passengers.'

Reinaldo, an IT specialist working for the hotel whose surname was not given, was in the passenger seat of the pick-up truck Mr Mawer was driving at more than 60mph. He survived when it was struck by the rocket-propelled grenade. 

He told the inquest their vehicle came under gunfire before the rocket hit, adding: 'Around 15.15 we set off in a convoy. Phil's pick-up was the 16th in the convoy. We were travelling at very high speed, maybe 100kmh. 

'We became attacked by al-Shabaab and gunfire started hitting us. The vehicle behind us began reversing. I became aware that we ourselves were hit by an RPG.

'Our vehicle began skidding and was still under fire. We got out and ran.'

TotalEnergies has been accused of hampering rescue attempts and failing to provide enough fuel for helicopters trying to bring people to safety. 

TEPMA1, a TotalEnergies Mozambican subsidiary, denied having any responsibility for Mr Mawer and said it could not release fuel to DAG, the private military group working on behalf of the Mozambique government fighting insurgents and rescuing hostages. 

It said it did not know Mr Mawer was still in Palma and claimed human rights abuse allegations against DAG meant it could not provide it with fuel. 

The inquest continues.