Dewani judge cracks whip on kinky sex

Prosecutors will have to convince a Cape Town High Court judge that the testimony of a man to whom Shrien Dewani paid hundreds of pounds for sadomasochistic sex is relevant to the trial of Dewani for murder.

Male prostitute Leopold Leisser took the stand yesterday and told the Cape Town High Court that he had three sexual encounters with Dewani - the last only a month before Dewani proposed to Swedish beauty Anni Hindocha.

Dewani is accused of orchestrating her murder during their honeymoon in Cape Town. He has pleaded not guilty.

Leisser said he "bent the rules" for Dewani.

"[Dewani] was the first client to sleep over," said Leisser, also known as "the German Master".

But before he could continue, Dewani's counsel, Pieter Botha, lashed out at prosecutor Adrian Mopp.

"We sat here to allow my colleague leeway to present some background - but what is the relevance [of this]?" asked Botha.

"Yes, what is the relevance?" Judge Jeanette Traverso echoed.

Mopp said that Leisser would testify that Dewani had told him that he, Dewani, was engaged and that his family would disown him if he backed out.

Earlier in the trial, Traverso had ruled that the testimony of a Scotland Yard detective, who had found sexually explicit e-mails exchanged between Dewani and another man, was inadmissible.

Traverso said Dewani's sexual preferences were of little consequence to the trial.

She told Leisser to step down and told the state that it would have to submit in writing a justification for continued testimony by Leisser.

In Leisser's statement to the UK police, in 2011, he said Dewani consumed ketamine, a short-acting hallucinogen, and cocaine during their last session together.

Said Leisser: "I believe there was in the region of 10 bags [of recreational drugs] in the apartment . He also rubbed cocaine onto his nipples on more than one occa sion ."

Zola Tongo - a taxi operator serving 18 years for Anni's murder - also took the stand yesterday.

Tongo said he drove the couple to their hotel on November 12 2010 and tried hard to "market" himself to the couple so that they would use his services for the duration of their stay.

At the hotel, Dewani allegedly told him: "I have a job for you."

Tongo said he thought: "Hunger is over now."

But, testified Tongo, the job was not what he thought: Dewani wanted a woman dead.

Tongo said he then approached a friend, Monde Mbolombo, who helped recruit the hit men.

Said Tongo: "My knees were shaking and I was scared."