Shrien Dewani 'suffering from acute stress'
Shrien Dewani, the British businessman accused of ordering the murder of his wife while they honeymooned in South Africa, is suffering from acute stress, his lawyer said yesterday.
Mr Dewani, 31, failed to attend an extradition hearing after he was diagnosed by a psychiatrist with an acute stress disorder and a depressive adjustment disorder, Westminster Magistrates' Court, in London, heard.
The businessman from Bristol is facing charges of conspiracy to murder, murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravated circumstances and obstruction of the administration of justice.
The South African authorities are seeking to have Mr Dewani, from Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol, taken back to the country to stand trial.
Mrs Dewani, 28 and from Sweden, was shot when the taxi the couple were travelling in was hijacked in the Gugulethu township on the outskirts of Cape Town on November 13.
She was found dead in the back of an abandoned cab with a bullet wound to her neck after cabbie Zola Tongo drove the newlyweds to the township.
Mr Dewani claims the vehicle was carjacked and that he and Tongo were forced out of the car unharmed before Mrs Dewani was driven away and killed.
However, Tongo turned state witness and, in return for a reduced sentence, alleged that Mr Dewani paid £1,400 for his wife to be killed.
Ben Watson, for the South African authorities, said the South African authorities believe Mr Dewani conspired with others to make it "appear as if they had both been the victims of a random highjacking".
The hearing was adjourned to February 8 at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court. Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle extended Mr Dewani's bail.
However, Tongo turned state witness and, in return for a reduced sentence, alleged that Mr Dewani paid £1,400 for his wife to be killed.
Ben Watson, for the South African authorities, said the South African authorities believe Mr Dewani conspired with others to make it "appear as if they had both been the victims of a random highjacking".
The hearing was adjourned to February 8 at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court. Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle extended Mr Dewani's bail.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8271276/Shrien-Dewani-suffering-from-acute-stress.html
