British businessman Shrien Dewani has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Anni in South Africa in 2010.

Dewani, 34, is accused of hiring a hitman to kill his wife Anni while the couple were enjoying their honeymoon in South Africa.

The pair, from Bristol, were being driven by taxi through the Gugulethu township, around nine miles from Cape Town, when they were held at gunpoint.

Dewani claims the pair were kidnapped at around 23:00 local time on 13 November 2010, and that he was ordered to leave the car at gunpoint near Harare one hour later. His wife’s body was later found in the car they had been travelling in with a gunshot wound to her neck.

South African Xolile Mngeni was convicted of murdering Anni Dewani and sentenced to life in prison, and his accomplice Mziwamadoda Qwabe was also jailed for 25 years. The couple’s taxi driver, Zola Tongo, was also jailed for his part in the killing after taking a plea deal where he accused Shrien Dewani of offering him 15,000 rand (£1,400) to kill his wife.

Prosecutors claim that Dewani hired Tongo to organise the murder of his wife, and he was extradited from the UK to face charges including murder and lying about the circumstances of Swedish national Anni’s death.

Dewani denies hiring a hitman, and told Western Cape Crown Court that his “whole world came crashing down” when he found out that his wife had been murdered.

He admitted that he and his wife had a volatile relationship and could become frustrated at each other, but said that they were “in love”.