Dewani painted as kinky miser

Murder accused Shrien Dewani's image took a further pounding this week amid fresh revelations of his Scrooge-like attitude to money, and claims by a German gigolo of kinky gay sex.

Days after the Sunday Times revealed that the British millionaire cheated a South African safari lodge out of about R33000, it emerged that he had demanded a refund from British Airways because his murdered wife, Anni, had not used the return leg of her honeymoon air ticket.

The UK tabloid, The Sun, also reported that a burly male escort who dresses in a military-style leather uniform told Scotland Yard that Dewani had paid more than £1100 for sex on three occasions between September last year and April.

Dewani's UK lawyers strenuously denied the claims by the "German Master" .

The businessman, 30, is accused of having brought his 28-year-old bride to South Africa last month to have her killed by hired hit men in a staged hijacking in Cape Town's Guguletu township.

Taxi driver Zola Tongo told the High Court in Cape Town this month that Dewani asked him to arrange the murder for a fee. Dewani, who has proclaimed his innocence, is out on bail of £250000 while he fights attempts to extradite him.

The Sunday Times reported last week that he had pretended to be an "upmarket travel consultant" when he booked a three-night stay for himself and Anni at Chitwa Chitwa lodge in Sabi Sands private game reserve, to get a lower rate.

Dewani's London-based publicist, Max Clifford, did not deny that his client had lied to the lodge, but said this did not make him a murderer.