A South African man wanted by gardai to join double murder suspect Ruth Lawrence in the dock for two gangland killings has vowed he will fight extradition.
Suspect Neville van der Westhuizen, 41, claims his life will be in danger if he is sent to Ireland as he is being hunted by underworld figures connected to a violent Dublin drugs gang who have threatened to kill him.
Both Lawrence, 42, and van der Westhuizen were being sought by cops worldwide following the alleged execution of two men in 2014 who were found buried in a shallow grave.
READ MORE: Irish woman Ruth Lawrence to be flown back to Ireland from South Africa facing double murder charges
They left Ireland shortly before the bodies of best friends Anthony Keegan, 33, and Eoin O’Connor, 32, were discovered with bullet wounds to the head in Co Cavan.
The two professional tattooists subsequently lived in South Africa, where Van der Westhuizen was born, and travelled the country for work until parting company in 2015.
Lawrence was arrested last October under an international arrest warrant while living in a rented bungalow in Bloemfontein, Free State Province, in a dawn raid by armed police.
Subsequent investigations showed Van der Westhuizen was already locked up and behind bars in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, serving a 15-year-sentence for the killing of a teenager.
Yesterday he appeared in the witness stand for the first time at the Durban Regional Court and told magistrate Kevin Bruorton that being sent to Ireland would be a death sentence.
He told the court he had received four death threats by phone and Facebook between 2015 and 2020. Van der Westhuizen said: "They said they would hunt me down. They don’t make idle threats. These people are very capable of killing.
“My brother spent a short time in an Irish prison and told me about the conditions there. I prefer staying in South Africa to complete the sentence for which I was convicted” he said.
Senior prosecutor Navin Sewparsat told the court he had affadavits from the Irish police which guaranteed van der Westhuizen’s safety if he was successfully extradited there.
The extradition case was adjourned until a date to be set for further arguments between the State and defence and van der Westhuizen was returned prison in Durban.
He is serving 15 years after being found guilty in 2020 of the culpable murder of a 19-year-old man at his tattoo parlour as well as of kidnapping him and inflicting GBH on him first.
Former lovers Lawrence and van der Westhuizen had a rented cottage near Dublin and the court in South Africa heard they are alleged to have shot the two men there or nearby and buried them both on Inchicup Island in Cavan.
On Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin Mr Justice David Keane set a three week trial date for October 7 next year where Ruth Lawrence will face the charges of double murder.
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