As an advocate, he prosecuted some of SA's worst criminals, including the Station Strangler and the murderous Flower Gang.
Now a fisherman, Mike Stowe is on the receiving end, embroiled in a bitter fight over catch sales and forced to flee "mob justice" when his office was destroyed by angry members of the Hout Bay community.
Two groups of poor fishermen in the Cape Town coastal village claim that Stowe, who markets fish to large companies, owes them money from failed business partnerships. They claim he failed to deliver on cash proceeds from the sale of their fish.
But Stowe says he is the one left out of pocket after advancing cash to township fishermen. He says he is helping the Hout Bay fishing communities, not exploiting them. His supporters claim he has given free legal services such as registering companies and applying for fishing rights.
The standoff coincides with drastic cuts in quota volumes for west coast rock lobster due to rampant poaching. Dwindling profits from fishing quotas have prompted bitter community infighting as quota holders seek the best price for their fish - and claim they are being ripped off by middlemen.
Stowe manages or co-owns several Hout Bay vessels. Two years ago his office in the village was ransacked by rioters when community members protested against the fishing quota system.
Stowe's detractors, several of whom spoke to the Sunday Times, said the former lawyer paid out only a fraction of what he promised in return for marketing their fish.
"He robbed us for two years," said Sweetness Hlathuka, one of 18 interim Hout Bay rights holders seeking redress.
"If it is possible we are willing to go to court. He must pay us back."
Another interim rights holder, Julia "Makhoti" Sotomela, said: "He robbed us. He said our fish was left in the water. We asked him where is the dead fish so we can bury them. The grave of the dead fish is our tummies."
The department of agriculture, forestry & fisheries did not respond to queries on the grievance. However, e-mail correspondence shows the department is investigating another quota dispute involving Stowe and a rock lobster rights holder in Hout Bay, Beauty Zilwa.
Zilwa's daughter, Pamela, said Stowe had marketed her mother's permit, paid less than a third of the agreed fee, and then became abusive. "He said: 'I am a senior advocate of the Western Cape and nobody is going to help you because I am the lawyer here'."
Pamela said her mother had tried unsuccessfully to lay a complaint of theft with the police.
Fatima Samuels, a former fishing rights holder from Hangberg, said Hout Bay's Hangberg residents had targeted Stowe's office during the riots two years ago. Residents were still picking through the ruins this week, removing bricks and scraps of metal.
Stowe hit back this week, claiming he was owed R300,000 by interim rights holders who had dishonestly "sold" quotas to multiple brokers, making it difficult to do honest business. He produced a list of payments to rights holders. However, neither side has produced a signed contract.
Stowe said he had never hijacked anyone's quota and had instead helped to empower the community by transferring ownership of most of his vessels.
The Sunday Times visited the vessels this week and spoke to some of the shareholders, who confirmed Stowe was helping them.
Another prominent Hout Bay marketer, who did not want to be named, said he too was owed money by interim quota holders who had taken cash advances from different companies for the same fishing right.
"It is becoming a common way of doing things and I think the department should put an end to it," he said.
Responding to specific queries about the interim fishers' complaints, Stowe said the community had mistakenly blamed him for them not catching fish - "keeping them in the water" - when the fish were simply not there because of disastrously low catch rates during their permit periods.
"They were just aggrieved with me. I never did anything wrong," said Stowe.
Despite the bad catch rates, all the fishermen on his books - about 30 - were paid for their lobster landed via his company, Harbour Master Fishing and Trading, Stowe said, adding that the company "nevertheless suffered a loss of approximately R80,000 on advances given for this season". He claimed to have paid Zilwa about R60,000 - much more than she alleges.
Stowe also denied being hounded out of town and said his office had been collateral damage during the riots. He said he had since moved out of the valley to escape the generally volatile situation in Hout Bay.
Veteran fishing rights campaigner Andy Johnston said the government's small-scale fishing policy was fuelling community discord. "The implementation has resulted in corruption, conflict, increased poaching, poverty, dysfunctional society and criminal activities."..