Killer of Anni Dewani sentenced to life in jail

Xolile Mngeni found guilty of 'honeymoon bride's' murder

South African Xolile Mngeni has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of the murder of honeymoon bride Anni Dewani in 2010.

A judge described Mngeni, 25, as an 'evil person', and ruled he was the one who fired the shot that killed the 28-year-old.

Dewani's body was found with a gunshot wound to the neck after she and her UK-based husband Shrien Dewani had been kidnapped while driving in a taxi near Cape Town.

Mr Dewani has been accused of ordering the death of his new wife by Mngeni's two co-conspirators Zola Tongo and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, but denies the allegations.

His extradition to South Africa was halted by a British court due to his mental health.

The judge said Mngeni, whose trial was repeatedly halted due to treatment for a rare cancerous brain tumour, was a 'merciless and evil person' who deserved the maximum sentence.

'He had no regard to her right to freedom, dignity, and totally disregarded and showed no respect to her right to life by brutally killing her with utter disdain,' he added.

Earlier this year taxi driver Tongo was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Cape Town High Court. He claims Mr Dewani offered him over £1,000 to organise the killing but make it look like a carjacking.

His accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, was given 25 years after pleading guilty to murder charges.

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