Bail blow for bride murder accused

THE British newlywed accused of paying to have his bride killed on their South African honeymoon is to be held in jail after an appeal was lodged against the granting of £250,000 (€300,000) bail.

Shrien Dewani, who was arrested on Tuesday night on a South African extradition warrant, was initially granted bail when he appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

But the South African authorities lodged an immediate appeal, which means the businessman from Bristol will be held in custody pending a High Court hearing.

Dewani, whose wife Anni, 28, was shot dead last month as they visited a township, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to murder her.

The 30-year-old was accused of ordering her death by taxi driver Zola Tongo as Tongo was sentenced for his part in the killing in a South African court on Tuesday.

The court heard that Tongo had not only implicated Dewani in the murder, but had mentioned to another man that he thought it was not the first time the Briton had arranged such a killing.

The taxi driver said he got the impression that Dewani had been in South Africa before and “had done something like this before and said he wanted the murder to look like a hijacking”, according to a statement given to South African police by an alleged middle-man.

Acting for the South African authorities, lawyer Ben Watson told yesterday’s extradition hearing that Dewani had met Tongo at Cape Town international airport and arranged for him to take him and his new bride to their hotel and to act as their tour guide.

Speaking outside City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court members of Mrs Dewani’s family said they wanted “justice for Anni”.

Asked if Dewani should return to South Africa, one man said: “I would say he needs to go. That is all I would say.”

Another family member added: “Nothing will bring our daughter back.”

The suspicions of the South African authorities were aroused by the fact that the couple did not make use of the airport-to-hotel shuttle service, hiring Tongo to take them to their hotel instead, City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

Added to that was the fact that neither Dewani nor the taxi driver were even injured in the incident, having been forced out of the vehicle separately, while Mrs Dewani was brutally killed.

Clare Montgomery QC, representing Dewani, said her client was accused by a group of self-confessed robbers and murderers desperate to escape a life sentence.

She branded the case against him as “flimsy” and suggested it was cooked up to defend the reputation of South Africa as a tourist destination.

Montgomery said there is no evidence her client has travelled to South Africa before so he could not have arranged another deadly hijacking.