‘Suicide risk’ Dewani ‘should be detained’

South African authorities told an extradition hearing in London yesterday that Shrien Dewani, the man they accuse of ordering his wife Anni's murder in Cape Town in November, should have his bail revoked and be detained for his own safety.

Dewani was admitted to hospital in his home town of Bristol on Sunday after taking a cocktail of what were thought to be antidepressants and sleeping pills. He was released this week and sat in court yesterday, unshaven and periodically weeping.

Ben Watson, making the case for extradition on behalf of South African prosecutors, said the weekend's events showed Dewani should be considered a suicide risk and that he should therefore have his bail revoked.

Dewani's lawyer insisted the overdose was an accident and not a suicide attempt - a view backed up by Dewani's psychiatrist.

His pharmacist father, Prakash, said he would do everything to keep his son safe. Judge Howard Riddle said Dewani could remain on bail but ordered him to undergo an independent psychological evaluation. He adjourned the case until March 15.

Dewani's legal team are arguing that he cannot expect a fair trial in South Africa given various biased comments by police chiefs and prosecutors since his wife's body was discovered on November 14.

But Pierre De Vos, a respected South African constitutional expert and law professor, has suggested that should Dewani's extradition be refused it would reflect badly on the country's legal system.

He said that prosecutors "obviously have a prima facie case" against Dewani and that South Africa has "a special extradition treaty" with Britian. "It would be quite surprising if the UK doesn't grant [Dewani's] extradition... If the extradition is not granted it would be a serious indictment by the UK courts of our legal system." ·