Thatcher planning to leave South Africa when arrested

MARK THATCHER was planning to leave South Africa when he was arrested, authorities said yesterday.

The son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is under house arrest and facing the possibility of 15 years in jail after being accused over an alleged plot to topple the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

The 51-year-old, who denies the charge, was arrested early on Wednesday at his Cape Town home and appeared in court later. Yesterday Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, said: “It does appear that he was planning to leave the country.