SOUTH AFRICA: The son of former British prime minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher left South Africa a free man last night after agreeing to pay a £265,000 (€385,000) fine for his role in a coup plot which could have landed him in jail for 15 years.
Sir Mark Thatcher flew to London and was thought to be bound for the United States to join his wife and two children after pleading guilty to funding an attempt by mercenaries to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea.
"See you later, guys," he told journalists as he left his Cape Town house for the airport, jaunty and happy. Earlier, he was a hunched, nervous figure, arriving at Cape Town high court clutching a set of pearl worry beads. But the court's acceptance of a plea-bargain changed all that.
Critics in South Africa said he escaped too lightly. Had Sir Mark not paid the fine, he would have faced a five-year prison sentence with a further four years suspended for five years for having breached South Africa's anti-mercenary laws.
Speaking from the court steps after sentencing, he resolved to be out of Africa. "I am willing to pay any price to be reunited with my family and I am sure all of you who are husbands and fathers would agree with that."
His business partner and friend, Simon Mann, may pay a heavier price for Sir Mark's liberty as the former prime minister's son implicated him as a leader of the attempted coup. Mann is in jail in Zimbabwe for coup-related offences and if he returns to South Africa he could be jailed again on the basis of testimony from Sir Mark and others involved in the plot.
Investigators said London-based financiers conspired with Equatorial Guinea's exiled opposition to overthrow the west African regime in exchange for oil rights, but the plan collapsed in March when Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea intercepted the mercenaries.
Sir Mark admitted paying $275,000 to a company owned by Mann, a neighbour in Cape Town, to charter an Alouette III helicopter. Since his arrest in Cape Town last August, Sir Mark defended the deal as a legitimate venture but in the plea bargain he admitted that before making the payments he had begun to "doubt Mann's true intentions" and suspected mercenary activity.
"He nevertheless fulfilled his obligations in terms of the agreement to finance the charter of the helicopter . . . he should have exercised more caution," said a statement from his lawyer, Mr George van Niekerk. It added that the helicopter never left southern Africa and played no role in the plot.
In a separate statement, prosecutors were blunter and said Sir Mark had pleaded guilty to a coup attempt in breach of South Africa's regulation of foreign military assistance act.
Though he avoided jail the plea bargain was widely seen as a victory for prosecutors. "Mr Mark Thatcher has agreed to co- operate fully with the investigations, so we are happy," said a spokesman, Mr Sipho Ngwema.
It was unclear whether Sir Mark would still face a grilling from Equatorial Guinean investigators, who have obtained a subpoena to question him in a South African court.
In a statement his mother, Lady Thatcher, said: "This has been a difficult time for all of the family. Obviously I am delighted that it has been brought to an end."
Sir Mark arrived at court in a green BMW and dressed in a trademark navy blazer and trousers. Two protesters jeered but the enveloping media scrum prevented him noticing a mocking three-word banner hung from an office block opposite which read: "Save me mummy."