Shrien Dewani 'will be well enough to face trial'
Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani will be well enough to travel to South Africa to face trial for the death of his wife, a court heard today.
Telegraph reporters
11:41AM GMT 03 Dec 2012
While Dewani is a "husk" of a man who is too terrified to travel by car, he should get well enough to face trial in South Africa, his lawyers told the court.
A ruling will not be made until next summer.
Dewani, 33, is wanted in South Africa for allegedly ordering a hit on his new bride Anni, 28, as the pair honeymooned in Cape Town in November 2010.
She was murdered as the pair took a taxi around the city.
Dewani's extradition was ordered in August last year but proceedings were temporarily halted by the High Court in March on the grounds it would "unjust and oppressive" to extradite him immediately because of his health.
Westminster Magistrates Court has heard that his condition is improving - but it will be early summer next year before District Judge Howard Riddle can rule whether he is well enough to return to the country of the murder.
Clare Montgomery QC, representing Dewani, said: "We are hoping and believe on the evidence he will recover, in which case there is no battle at all apart from ensuring appropriate conditions in South Africa."
The legal arguments against his extradition will therefore be whether the conditions in South Africa are sufficient to ensure he does not relapse into his "severe and disabling mental state".
She added: "At some point he will became fit to plead, he will no longer require medical treatment and all that will be required is some reassurances on the conditions in which he will be held."
But although there is hope for the future he is a "husk of that man" that he once was, it was said.
The once "star student and potential partner in a firm of accountants" who helped run his family business now has problems concentrating and paying attention.
Ms Montgomery added that he can no longer get into a moving car or go to the shops on his own - meaning there is no possibility of him running away, it was said.
She said: "He now can't travel by car except with a severe reaction, he doesn't want to go outside, he doesn't want to go home even."
He is "frightened" of the noise of the vehicle and is "only able to go and sit in a disused car in the grounds of the hospital", Mr Montgomery said.
He spends his time playing computer games at his secure hospital.
The care home boss, who has been diagnosed with severe depression and post traumatic stress, is the only person implicated in the murder by the authorities still to face justice.
Hugo Keith QC, for the South African government, pointed out that Dewani had been receiving treatment for two years and it was not the court's job to ensure that he was better - just that he was well enough to be extradited.
Dewani's legal team are applying for a bail variation to allow him to be moved to a different hospital.
Dr Paul Cantrell, Dewani's psychiatrist, said: "His depression has moved into the moderate range albeit in the lower range of that, in the borderlands between severe and moderate.
"I am clear that his PTSD remains in the severe range and the PTSD has mutated over time."
Dewani, who was arrested in December 2010, is currently being held in secure mental health hospital Fromeside, in Bristol, and has been held in units as part of his bail conditions since February last year when he took an overdose in an apparent suicide attempt.
The "constant noises" and conditions at the hospital which houses "seriously disturbed patients" are a "maintaining feature" in his illness, Ms Montgomery said.
The South African authorities are requesting him on charges of murder, kidnap, robbery with aggravated circumstances, conspiracy to commit those offences and a charge of obstructing the administration of justice.
Ms Montgomery said: "He continues to express a desire to return to South Africa and face his trial."
His family are also trying to ensure he recovers so he can clear his name, she added.
It is alleged that Dewani paid cab driver Zola Tongo to arrange the hit whilst on honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010.
Their car was hijacked as it passed through the township of Gugulethu.
Tongo then Dewani were ordered out but Mrs Dewani was driven off by Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe and robbed of her mobile phone, white gold diamond bracelet, Armani wristwatch, and handbag before she was killed with a single shot wound to her neck.
Tongo middle man Monde Mbolombo and hijacker Qwabe admitted their roles in plea bargains in which they agreed to testify against the care home boss and received lighter sentences.
Terminally ill hitman Mngeni was found guilty last month of firing the shot which killed the Swedish engineer.
Aika paljon on sittemmin tullut vihjettä siihen suuntaan, että mies todella oli homo mutta sen asian piti pysyä piilossa hinnalla millä hyvänsä.
