Wanted man Mark Scott-Crossley has been arrested in Pretoria after being on the run since December, Limpopo police said on Wednesday.
“The suspect will be transported to Limpopo to face a charge of attempted murder,” said spokesman Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo.
“He will appear before Hoepspruit Magistrate’s Court soon. The date of his court appearance will be communicated.”
Game farmer Scott-Crossley, dubbed the “Lion Man” after he made headlines when he threw an employee into a lion cage, had been a wanted man after police issued a warrant for his arrest on December 21 2016.
In 2004 Scott-Crossley was convicted of masterminding the premeditated murder of the farm worker by throwing him to lions.
While incarcerated, Scott-Crossley was also charged with assaulting a fellow inmate, Jacobus Cordier, at the Barberton maximum security in December 2006.
The Barberton Magistrate’s Court found him guilty of assault and sentenced him to a fine of R4,000 or two years’ imprisonment. He paid the fine.
Last year Scott-Crossley allegedly attacked a wildlife centre worker and smashed his cellphone before running him over twice with a vehicle. The employee, Silence Mabunda, was hospitalised after the incident.
Numerous attempts by Limpopo police to find Scott-Crossley drew a blank. He was suspected of having left the province when his lawyer turned up at the Hoedspruit police to try “arrange bail” for his client last week.
Police turned the lawyer away and told him Scott-Crossley would not be given preferential treatment, and would be charged like everyone else.
– African News Agency (ANA)
