Dewani cleared of honeymoon murder

A MAN accused of hiring hit men to murder his wife while they were on honeymoon has been cleared by a South African court.

Two months after it started, the court case against Shrien Dewani was dismissed by Judge Jeanette Traverso, who deemed the prosecution case too weak with no likelihood of a conviction.

The 34-year-old, from the Bristol area of the UK, was on trial accused of paying to have his new bride Anni, aged 28, killed while on honeymoon in South Africa. The state’s key witness, Zola Tongo, had said Dewani paid him to hire two men to carry out the murder. But Judge Traverso decided that key evidence was “so improbable, with so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies you cannot see where the lies ended and the truth begins.”

Three men have previously been convicted of Anni’s murder.

She was killed when the taxi the couple were travelling in was held up at gunpoint near Cape Town in 2010.

Mr Dewani ecaped unharmed, but Anni’s body was found later in the abandoned taxi. She had been shot in the neck.

The care home owner is expected to remain in court custody until he can return to the UK.