Met keen to talk to Mann about Thatcher

Sir Mark Thatcher may not be off the hook just yet for his part in the failed attempt to overthrow the president of the oil-rich West African state Equatorial Guinea in 2004. Scotland Yard have admitted they are monitoring the trial and may consider re-interviewing Simon Mann, the Old Etonian mercenary who is awaiting trial for his part in the bodged coup, following some remarks he made about Lady Thatcher's son while giving evidence.

Last week, Mann has contradicted Sir Mark's assertion that he knew nothing of the coup. He said he was one of five men "in charge of the operation", adding that: "He is known as a dirty player who lives his life getting himself involved in all sorts of dubious deals that are of benefit to himself."

Thatcher struck a plea bargain with South African prosecutors in 2005. He admitted paying £140,530 for a helicopter to help the plotters, but claimed that he thought it was going to be used as an air ambulance. He was fined £266,000 and received a four-year suspended sentence. (Continued below)

Another who has reason to be worried by this turn of events is British businessman Ely Calil, who Mann claimed was the key ringleader in the plot, an accusation Calil denies.

There is no doubt that the Equatorial Guinea government will welcome the news. Last week Jose Olo Obono, the country’s attorney general, said Sir Mark and Calil were his next targets for prosecution at the end of Mann's trial. He said: "It may be a long haul but we will bring the others to justice."

Meanwhile, it seems likely Mann, 60, will be rewarded for his candour in the trial. Although he is expected to receive a 30-year-plus sentence, a prosecution lawyer claims that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema will give him a pardon after one or two years in prison and that he will spend his confinement in relative comfort.