Key dates in Dewani case

Anni Dewanis family arrive at the High Court for the hearing Credit: Cordelia Lynch

The High Court has temporarily halted British businessman Shrien Dewani's extradition to South Africa on mental health grounds.

When honeymooners Shrien and Anni Dewani were ambushed by car-jackers as they drove through a dangerous South African township, it appeared to be a random attack.

But police investigating Mrs Dewani's murder soon developed a different theory centring on her husband, who had escaped unharmed.

November 13 2010 - Shrien and Anni Dewani's cab is hijacked as their chauffeur drives them through the rough township of Gugulethu on the outskirts of Cape Town on their honeymoon.

Dewani escapes but his wife is driven off and killed. Her body is found the next morning in the back of the abandoned vehicle. A subsequent post-mortem examination finds she was shot in the neck.

November 16 2010 - Dewani leaves South Africa. Xolile Mngeni, from the township of Khayelitsha, is arrested by Western Cape Police.

November 17 2010 - Mngeni is charged with the hijacking and murder.

November 18 2010 - Police arrest a second suspect, Mzwamadoda Qwabe, also from Khayelitsha.South Africa's police commissioner, Bheki Cele, is asked during a press conference why Dewani was allowed to leave the country and replies: "He's not a suspect, so we can't hold him against his will if he wants to go."

November 20 2010 - Police arrest a third suspect, the couple's taxi driver Zola Tongo, from Cape Town.

November 22 2010 - Tongo and Qwabe appear at Wynberg Regional Court charged with the hijacking and murder.Meanwhile, Mrs Dewani's father, Vinod Hindocha, insists he has a good relationship with Dewani and loves him "like a son". He says he has always supported him and will continue to do so.

November 23 2010 - Dewani rejects speculation that he was somehow involved in the car-jacking, telling The Sun: "People who suggest this could not have seen us together."

November 24 2010 - Dewani's brother Preyen says Shrien is receiving medical assistance to help him deal with the trauma.

December 7 2010 - Tongo is jailed for 18 years after making a plea agreement with prosecutors.The taxi driver claims Dewani offered him 15,000 Rand (£1,300) to have his wife killed - something strongly denied by the British businessman's family.Dewani is arrested in Bristol under a South African warrant on suspicion of conspiring to murder his wife.

December 8 2010 - Dewani appears at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and is remanded in custody as the South African authorities fight to extradite him.

March 3 2011 - Dewani, who is said to be suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, is sent to the Priory Hospital in Bristol.

April 20 2011 - Dewani is compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act at Fromeside Clinic, a secure hospital in Bristol.

May 3-5 2011 - Dewani's extradition hearing begins at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court. Prosecutors cite an unnamed witness who claims Dewani confessed he needed to "find a way out of" his marriage months before the wedding.

August 10 2011 - District Judge Howard Riddle rules that Dewani can be extradited to South Africa to stand trial.

September 20 2011 - Wynberg Regional Court in South Africa hears claims that Dewani approached an airport shuttle service operator and sought a hitman to murder his wife almost immediately after the couple arrived at a five-star hotel in Cape Town.

September 28 2011 - Home Secretary Theresa May signs an order for Dewani to be extradited to South Africa.

September 30 2011 - Dewani lodges a High Court appeal against Mrs May's decision.

December 13 2011 - Dewani's barrister Clare Montgomery QC tells the High Court that his health and life will be at risk if he is sent to South Africa and urges judges to block the extradition order.

February 10 2012 - The Western Cape High Court in South Africa hears that Dewani is to be added as the fourth accused when the murder trial eventually gets under way.

March 30 2012 - Dewani is due to learn if he has won his High Court appeal against being extradited.