The judge in the trial of Shrien Dewani, accused of plotting his wife's murder during their honeymoon in South Africa, today stopped a gay sex worker from testifying against the Indian-origin British millionaire, in a setback to the prosecution.
The prosecution had brought in Birmingham-based escort Leipold Leisser, 43, to give details of his three sexual encounters with Dewani in 2009 and 2010.
But after a few minutes, Judge Jeanette Traverso stopped the testimony by the German-accented witness, also known as 'Gay Master One', when the defence queried the relevance of his statement that Dewani had slept over at his home on the first two occasions.
This is the second time Traverso, Cape Town's second most senior judge, has stepped in to prevent the Dewani prosecution from providing evidence about the British businessman's bisexual nature, citing it as being irrelevant.
Leisser told the court, "It was unusual and in fact, he was the first ever client I allowed to stay at my home."
But defence advocate Pieter Botha's concern over the relevance of this was supported by Traverso, who said that it was common cause that Dewani had spent some nights with Leisser and had slept with other men as well.
Prosecutor Adrian Mopp attempted to justify Leisser's evidence in the context of Dewani having confided in Leisser about his engagement to counter a threat of being disowned by his family.
He also said that Leisser's evidence would later assist in addressing the question of why Dewani would want to have his wife killed.
Traverso asked Leisser to step down and adjourned the court after asking both the prosecution and the defence to provide her with written arguments on why Leisser's evidence should or should not be admitted.
34-year-old Dewani is accused of orchestrating the murder of his Indo-Swedish wife Anni while they were on honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010.
Anni was shot dead when the taxi she and her husband were travelling in was hijacked in the dangerous Cape Town township of Gugulethu.
Three South Africans convicted in the case had claimed that Anni's death had been planned and paid for by Dewani.
Dewani, however, insists he is innocent. He fought four-year long lengthy battle to avoid extradition from his native Britain to stand trial, but was eventually brought to Cape Town earlier this year.
He has pleaded not guilty to five counts against him in the trial which started a fortnight ago.
