Post date: Dec 10, 2010 5:1:32 PM
British businessman Shrien Dewani, accused of murdering his bride while they were on honeymoon in South Africa, is granted bail in London.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER10, 2010) ITN - The British millionaire accused of murdering his bride while the couple were on honeymoon in South Africa was granted bail by a High Court judge on Friday (December 10).
A previous application for bail by businessman Shrien Dewani had been blocked when South African authorities appealed against it.Dewani, 30, is accused by South Africa of hiring a hitman to murder his 28-year-old wife Anni, a former model and Swedish national, who was shot dead last month.
She was found in the back of an abandoned taxi in a Cape Town township with a single bullet wound to her neck. Dewani denies any involvement in her murder.
Lawyers for South African prosecutors said Dewani should be denied bail because there was reason to believe he would not turn up for an extradition hearing later this month if he were released on bail, the Press Association reported.
Mr Justice Ouseley disagreed and allowed the bail application, noting his willingness to cooperate with the investigation into his wife's death.
The taxi driver, Zola Tongo, who says he was offered 15,000 rand (2,165 US dollars) by Dewani to kill his wife, has pleaded guilty to four charges, including murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, for which he has been sentenced to an effective 18 years in prison.
Clare Montgomery, representing Dewani, said her client was accused by a group of self-confessed robbers and murderers desperate to escape a whole life sentence and with "everything to gain and nothing to lose" by implicating Dewani in the killing.
She argued there was nothing in the fresh material put before the court which strengthened the case against Dewani or made it more likely that he would flee abroad or go to ground.