Elephant hunter awarded R50 million for wrongful arrest

A professional hunter has been awarded R50 million by the Pretoria High Court after he was wrongfully arrested.

The Star reported that as a result of Jaco Scott's arrest, he was unable to proceed with his scheduled elephant hunt.

He won R75 000 in damages for his arrest and detention, and R577,610 which he had paid to an American entity, Field and Stream, to recruit hunters from the United States for hunting expeditions.

The court also awarded R49.2m to his company, Scotto, for the loss of income over the next 25 years as Field and Stream decided not to use Scott's services again.

The newspaper reported that the hunting party arrived in South Africa on June 10, 2004 because of an arrangement between Scotto and Field and Stream.

Scott was arrested on an unrelated matter a day before the elephant hunt, which was due to take place in Zimbabwe. The report did not say why he was arrested.