Honeymoon murder-case man ‘needed way out of marriage’

The South African authorities are seeking to extradite Shrien Dewani over the killing of his Swedish bride Anni, who was shot dead in the back of a taxi in Cape Town in November.

An unnamed witness prepared to give evidence if Dewani stands trial claims the wealthy care home owner revealed to him his true feelings about his marriage more than six months earlier, the court heard.

Hugo Keith QC, representing the South African authorities, told Belmarsh Magistrates Court in south-east London: “Dewani told (the witness) in April 2010 how he was engaged and had to get married.

“He said although she was a nice, lovely girl whom he liked, he could not break out of the engagement because he would be disowned by his family. He went on to say to the witness he needed to find a way out of it.”

Dewani, 31, is accused of arranging for Anni, 28, to be killed in a staged carjacking in the dangerous Gugulethu township.

He is also wanted for offences of kidnapping, robbery with aggravated circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder, and obstructing the administration of justice, the court heard on the first day of his extradition hearing.

As Mr Keith opened his case, Dewani, dressed in a dark tracksuit top, sat slumped in the dock, mumbling to himself with his eyes half-closed.

The court heard Dewani became a suspect in the killing after cabbie Zola Tongo pointed the finger at him.

Tongo, who had been appointed the couple’s tour guide in Cape Town on November 12, admitted his own involvement in the hijacking and claimed Dewani offered him cash to arrange it, Mr Keith said.

Outlining the sequence of events, Mr Keith said the newlyweds touched down in the South African city after spending the first three days of their honeymoon at the country’s Kruger National Park. Tongo drove the couple to the Cape Grace hotel where they were staying and, he claims, Dewani then asked him if he knew anyone who could “have a client of his taken off the scene”.

Mr Keith added: “After some discussion, Tongo understood that Dewani wanted to have a woman killed. Dewani indicated he would be prepared to pay 15,000 rand (about £1,375).”

The Bristol businessman offered to pay for the contract killing in US dollars and the next day he took Tongo to a place where he could change the currency into South African rand, the taxi driver alleged.

“During their discussions it was agreed the killing would be designed to look like a random hijacking, that Tongo and Dewani would be ejected from the car unharmed,” Mr Keith went on.

“The kidnap and robbery were designed to make it look like a random attack.”

Dewani, who is said to be suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, denies any wrongdoing and is fighting extradition.

For him to be sent back to South Africa to stand trial, District Judge Howard Riddle must be satisfied his human rights will not be breached, the court heard.

He left court half-way through the day after his lawyer Clare Montgomery QC asked District Judge Riddle to allow him to return to Fromeside Clinic, a secure mental health hospital in Bristol where he is on bail.