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Three South African mercenaries due to be prosecution witnesses in the trial of Sir Mark Thatcher have revealed details of a daring “Trojan Horse” operation they allege he was involved in as part of a plot to overthrow the president of Equatorial Guinea.

The prosecution hopes the evidence of the coup leaders – who agreed to testify in a plea-bargaining deal – will prove Thatcher’s direct involvement in the botched plot and lead to a lengthy prison sentence.

The Mail On Sunday has acquired documents that show exactly how the coup was allegedly supposed to happen. A Russian cargo plane was to be flown to the capital, Malabo, carrying luxury 4x4 vehicles. These were to be offered to president Teodoro Obiang as a gift, to lure him to the airfield.

But, according to the documents, a hidden troop of mercenaries armed with guns, mortars and rocket-launchers would burst out and assassinate him.

They would be assisted by the arrival of a second plane, which would land with more weapons and 70 men specially trained in urban warfare. Also on the second plane would be exiled opposition leader Severo Moto.

After a bloody shoot-out Moto would be taken to the presidential palace as the new leader of the oil-rich West African state.

Thatcher’s role, according to the other plotters, was to finance a helicopter gunship that would provide air cover during the shoot-out and double as an ambulance in the event of casualties.

The rewards for the coup leaders would be a share of the country’s oil profits and lucrative jobs providing security for the new president and his government.

The plot, planned for last March, failed after a tip-off from South African intelligence.

The extraordinary plan has been detailed for Thatcher’s trial by mercenary leader Crause Steyl and two members of his team, Harry Carlse and Lourens Horn.

In return for turning state witnesses, the three were released from prison sentences handed out for their part in the coup and have been fined instead.

Attempts by Thatcher’s lawyers to offer him as a state witness against others in the coup plot have failed. The case against him, brought under the Foreign Military Assistance Act which forbids mercenary activity, has been moved to the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in April.

Baroness Margret Thatcher’s son, 51, denies providing the cash for a gunship, saying he believed he was funding an air ambulance.

A senior member of his legal team, Alan Bruce-Brand, said at the weekend: “We do not believe that evidence from Crause Steyl or the two other state witnesses proves the case against our client. He has admitted funding a helicopter but believed it was to be part of an air ambulance service.

“The three men who have plea-bargained with the State were, on their admission, key players in the coup attempt. Thatcher was always on the periphery. Yet these three have escaped lengthy jail sentences.”

The state witnesses allege that Thatcher, a qualified pilot, tested a helicopter gunship in Cape Town with Steyl, a commercial pilot.

Steyl told investigators Thatcher had been introduced to him as an investor in the coup plot. He claims that when the first helicopter tested was deemed unsuitable, Thatcher funded the hiring of another one, paying two amounts into Steyl’s business account – $20 000 (R119 000) on January 8 last year and $255 000 (R1,5-million) on January 16.