The family of a “gifted and talented” student who disappeared during a college trip to London was given false hope about him being alive when mistakenly told he had boarded a plane home to Ireland.

Sir Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister, appeared in a South African magistrates’ court today for a televised hearing on charges that he helped bankroll a failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.

Mark Thatcher is likely to be questioned within days over his alleged involvement in an attempt coup in Equatorial Guinea.

MARK THATCHER, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret, was charged yesterday with violating South Africa's anti-mercenary law in connection with an alleged plot to topple the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.