British fugitive’s Interpol warrant missing

The Wynberg Magistrate's Court heard on Friday that British fugitive Callum Gower's arrest warrant from Interpol has gone missing. Gower was arrested at his home in Cape Town on 26 January, facing charges of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, assault occasioning bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place during an altercation at a local fair in East Sussex, in May 2014, reports TimesLIVE. A second set of offences dates to 2016 and 2017 for his alleged part in a conspiracy to supply class A and B controlled drugs, namely cocaine, MDMA (a stimulant and psychedelic) and cannabis. NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Gower has been declared an ‘undesirable person and prohibited person’ by Home Affairs and there was a warrant for his arrest in the UK. Gower, however, asked the court to be released on bail of £8 700, but this was denied as the state claimed he was a ‘flight risk’ and should he be released he ‘has access to the required means to flee’. The court heard Gower's warrant of arrest could only be authorised by a magistrate presented with an affidavit from Interpol. The state said the magistrate was presented with the affidavit and the warrant of arrest was issued. However, when Gower’s attorney Bruce Hendrick requested the affidavit from the state’s office, he did not receive it. The state then asked Interpol for a copy of the affidavit presented to the magistrate but they said they did not have one and had made an inquiry to the magistrate that the documents be given to Hendricks. The court also heard that an application on the ‘unlawful arrest’ of Gower might be brought once the affidavit from Interpol has been obtained. The case was postponed to 18 July.

Full TimesLIVE report

Michael Lomas is who is wanted in SA for a case involving $41.3m fraud, has a degenerative spinal condition and has told a doctor that if he is forced leave the UK, he will ‘take his own life’. The Daily Maverick reports that the England and Wales High Court last month denied his application to appeal a previous order that he should be extradited to SA. He was arrested in April 2021. The Special Investigating Unit said ‘Lomas is expected to join his co-accused, former Eskom (SA power utility) executives Abram Masango and France Hlakudi, businessman Maphoko Kgomoeswana and Tubular Construction CEO Antonio Trindade, in court’. The NPA’s Investigative Directorate noted that Lomas was wanted in SA ‘to stand trial for alleged fraud and corruption for a $41.3mm payment made by the power utility to Tubular Construction Project’. ‘The company was involved in the construction of Kusile Power Station, in which millions of rands were allegedly paid to Eskom officials in illegal gratuities for the awarding of lucrative contracts… This exposed Eskom to at least ($77.6m in costs,’ it noted. Last month’s judgment relates to his third attempt to try to appeal his extradition. It was based on issues including his human rights.

DM notes that the judgment said Lomas had an operation in April 2024 ‘to take the pressure off his spinal cord and his C7 nerve root, in the context of his multi-level degenerative disc disease’. After the operation he was sent to a care home and heard his extradition would proceed that same month ‘by means of a seven-hour flight to Doha’ and ‘a nine-hour flight to Johannesburg’. Dr Alan Mitchell said ‘currently Mr Lomas requires residential care in order to assist with his activities of daily living such as dressing and washing’. Mitchell said that on a commercial flight, Lomas would not be able to move every 45 minutes and if there was an emergency, he would not be able to assume the brace position. The judgment pointed out that a clinician, as discussed with the SAPS, would accompany Lomas on the flight. It found that in terms of Lomas not being able to assume the brace position given his mobility issues, this was not a pressing problem. ‘There is no evidence that a brace position is a prerequisite for all who fly,’ the judgment said.

Full Daily Maverick report