Reports in the South African press suggest five men accused of beating Somerset-based former Royal Marine Brett Williams to death outside a rugby match in Durban are due to hand themselves in tomorrow.
Mr Williams, who survived tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as patrolling the waters off Somalia on anti-piracy missions in his second career in maritime security, was killed in a brutal incident at Kings Park last month.
In an unusual twist, even by the standards of a South African legal system that has come under scrutiny during the Oscar Pistorious and Shrien Dewani cases, it has been reported the five men suspected of attacking Mr Williams have been allowed to spend Easter free men before handing themselves in to be arrested.
The Sunday Tribune, the biggest selling newspaper in Kwa-Zulu Natal, said it is in possession of the names of the five men accused of killing Mr Williams, who previously lived in Bishops Lydeard with partner Louise Scott and a young daughter Lailah, who will be four this week.
Williams's alleged attackers have secured a weekend of freedom, with their lawyers bargaining their hand-over which is expected this week. All five attended the same high school in Durban, and among them are two brothers, the newspaper reported.
Police spokesman Vincent Mdunge told the Sunday Tribune the police were ready to arrest the men and insisted that premature action may jeopardise the investigation.
He said the arrest of the men was not punitive. "People must get out of the mindset that effecting an arrest is about punishing people. The sole purpose is to secure their attendance in court."
