City of Westminster Magistrates Court in London was told that there was a
"real risk" that Shrien Dewani could abscond unless moves to relax his bail
conditions "bit by bit" were halted.
The 31-year-old from Bristol is facing extradition to South Africa where he is
accused of hiring two hit men to kill his newly-wed bride, Anni, during
their honeymoon in Cape Town in November last year.
He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act earlier this year and is
currently staying at Fromeside, a medium secure unit in Bristol.
But a hearing to review his bail conditions yesterday was told that doctors
have been unable to give him medication to ease the effects of severe
post-traumatic stress disorder and depression because of a rare blood
condition. He is also said to be too ill to benefit from other forms of
therapy.
Clare Montgomery QC, for Mr Dewani, urged the chief magistrate Howard Riddell
to ease his bail conditions allowing him to visit his family unescorted,
something she said doctors hoped would help his improvement.
She insisted he was "profoundly" ill and had no intention of absconding
because he was determined to clear his name.
But Hugo Keith QC, for the South African government, said that the proposal
would allow Mr Dewani, who is no longer electronically tagged, to go
anywhere he wanted without an escort.
"He could leave and never return and it could be hours before anybody notices,
far too late for anyone to do anything," he said.
He added that, given the gravity of the charge he faces in South Africa, "it
would need a stronger man perhaps than Mr Dewani to resist the siren calls
of flight."
Listing a series of relaxations to Mr Dewani’s bail conditions over the past
six months, he said: "There is a very real and genuine concern that, bit by
bit, incrementally, we have now reached the position where there would be
little or no supervision of Mr Dewani for substantial periods of time."
Refusing the application, the district judge said: "There is bound to be
a real fear of extradition to South Africa and that may provide, perhaps in
moments of weakness, a real incentive to abscond."
