Police looking for 'lion man' Mark Scott-Crossley

Mark Scott-Crossely‚ who made headlines in 2004 when he assisted his staff who threw a worker into a lion enclosure on his farm in Hoedspruit‚ is being sought by police who need his help investigating a case of attempted murder in Limpopo.

Police have appealed to the 49-year-old to assist them with a case of attempted murder following an attack last week on Silence Mabunda outside a restaurant in Kampersrus Dorpie. Provincial spokesman Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said Mabunda had given police a description of his attacker but stressed that Scott-Crossely was not directly implicated.

"Our prileminary investigations indicate that the suspect was driving a Jeep and as the police‚ we are calling upon Mark Scott-Crossley to come to us so that he can assist us in our investigation. We are not saying that it's him. We are looking for a suspect.

"But at the same time‚ it obviously raises eyebrows that he has now gone to ground after not finding him at his place of residence‚" said Mojapelo. TMG Digital was informed that the incident took place on the 14th of December at about 7.30pm.

According to the police‚ Mabunda claimed to be on his cellphone when he was attacked by a man who grabbed the device and smashed it before dragging him around and later running him over with a Jeep. Following the lion incident‚ Scott-Crossely was initially sentenced to life imprisonment for murder after the death of Nelson Chisale‚ but the conviction was later overturned on appeal.

He was convicted on the lesser charge of being an accessory after the fact and he was given parole in 2008. In 2005‚ the Sunday Times reported that Scott -Crossley displayed violent tendencies‚ picking fights and getting involved in road rage incidents‚ according to a psychologist’s report. The schocking details were compiled by Johannesburg clinical psychologist Steven Kaplan in 2001 after Scott -Crossley’s father‚ Paul‚ insisted that his son seek counselling because of his “ongoing history of aggression‚ violence‚ defensiveness and general irresponsibility”.

Kaplan’s report‚ compiled after Scott -Crossley underwent 20 hours of therapy‚ was handed to the court by forensic criminologist Irma Labuschagne during evidence in mitigation of sentence in August 2005.

It described how the father of a teenage son always tried to establish himself "as someone who no one would mess with". Scott -Crossley‚ according to Kaplan‚ was "exceptionally defensive and often inappropriately angry... He showed evidence of very poor impulse control and conflict management skills. He was not particularly likeable and was highly resistant to the process of therapy".

Kaplan commented in his report that Scott -Crossley also found it difficult to trust people and form lasting relationships. "He showed some evidence as well of paranoia. Mark was not honest with himself and displayed a clear tendency towards responsibility avoidance and blaming.

“He was also highly anxious about being seen by anyone as weak and was always highly resistant to discussing his feelings on anything more than on a superficial level.” Kaplan said Scott -Crossley admitted he drank to "block off from people and not have to deal with them".

He also suffered extensively from feelings of guilt‚ low self-esteem and anxiety‚ the Sunday Times reported. The police are appealing to anyone who might know of his whereabouts to come forward. - TMG Digital