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29/12/87 [This date cannot be correct - it should probably be 29/12/88]

Pharmacology

  1. Before I went to Cyprus, Dr. P. Zeider prescribed Mogadon after an exhaustive examination failed to reveal any pathology, for a benign condition I now know to have been "Exploding Head Syndrome".

  2. When I arrived in Cyprus in the summer of 1983, I was given Normisone by the local pharmacists as an alternative to Mogadon. I took between one and two capsules daily for eight to nine months until I ran out whilst on a return visit to London and then experienced my first period of withdrawals which were severe enough to stop me from working and helped to precipitate a depression possibly exacerbated by my marriage problems.

  3. In June 1985 I became a patient of Dr Sophocleous. He prescribed a few short treatments finally settling on a cocktail of Parstelin and 2 benzodiazepines (Lexotanil with Noctamid then Normisone) but in August I almost died as a result of eating something incompatible with Parstelin and I stopped his treatments.

  4. Dr Andonpoulos prescribed Deanxit and 2 benzodiazepines for a few weeks during this period. I was depressed but quite normal mentally.

  5. Towards the end of the year my wife persuaded me to see Dr Sophocleous again whereupon he insisted I take a course of 10 daily injections which I believe to have been insulin although he has claimed that this treatment was Redeptin. I also took Effortil with the injections and was given large quantities of sweet foods and drinks about an hour after the injections. I subsequently gained a lot of weight. The injections were followed by a 2-3 month treatment with Stellazine injections, Melleril, Largactil, Akiniton retard, Valium, Normisone and Rohypnol. I slept virtually round the clock, totally unable to work but otherwise quite normal.
            Early in 1989, for no apparent reason, he changed my prescription to Parstelin, Stellazine (tablets), Largactil, Akinton, Retard, Valium, Normisone and Rohypnol. The side effects changed but
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    otherwise I remained the same, sleeping most of the day. After two months Stellazine was removed from the prescription. This continued for 5 to 6 months by which time I was exhibiting the classic symptoms of benzodiazepine addiction. I had developed a powerful agoraphobia and photosensitivity but mentally I was quite normal.
            In July 1986 Parstelin was mysteriously withdrawn from sale in Cyprus and my wife decided to seek a second opinion because I did not appear to be making any progress, rather I was progressively getting worse. She was advised by Dr Delores Mouiasy to get me out of Dr Sophocleous' care immediately, therefore she arranged for me to become a patient of Dr Evthoka. At this point Dr Sophocleous wrote him a letter of introduction which, as one can see, is rather vague, omits full details of all the drugs he prescribed, is inaccurate and contains at least one downright falsehood regarding the Redeptin/insulin injections. I also feel he has given a very misleading impression of my condition and situation, no doubt to justify his excessive charges for the non-existent treatments for non-existent symptoms.
  1. Dr Evthoka was visibly shaken when I told him that I had been taking 3-5 x 10 mg Valium, 3-6 Rohypnol and 1-2 Normisone every day, but simply refused to accept my description of the so-called Redeptin treatment which, coupled with inconsistencies within my letter of introduction led him to telephone Dr Sophocleous for clarification. This turned into a heated argument ending with Dr Evthoka slamming the phone down in exasperation and anger and explaining that I had to stop all my medications immediately and return to him in two weeks for a new treatment. I did exactly as I was told.
            Within a few days I had turned into a wild animal which I've described fully elsewhere and eventually Dr Evthoka prescribed Anafranil, Ludiomil, Largactil, Akiniton Retard, Valium, Xanax and Halcion. After 2-3 months he removed the Largactil and Akiniton and added Vivalan. I continued on this cocktail until March 1987 when he drastically reduced my dosages so that I could return to the UK to see another doctor.
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            My 'mental' problems started when Dr Evthoka stopped the drugs that Dr Sophocleous had addicted me to. As soon as the new treatment started I was able to stabilise the physical withdrawal effects with fairly massive doses of Valium which I also used to suppress the horrific panic attacks I was getting for months afterwards.
            I became a chronic agoraphobic totally unable to leave the house. I suffered anxiety attacks and disorientation. I hid from the world in my darkened bedroom for many months and I began to develop irrational ideas. I also experienced a few months of vivid dreams which occurred while I was awake as well as asleep, which I still did almost continuously. I stopped bathing, shaving and even refused to take off my track suit for months at a time. I was irritable and short tempered but by the end of that year I began to stabilise and make positive progress. The agoraphobia eased, the attacks subsided and I became brighter, stayed awake longer and, surprisingly, I was very happy. In fact, I think my original depression had ended a year or more earlier but I had been too drugged to notice.
            In January 1987 I noticed that I would from time to time lose track of reality and fantasy or imagination. At first it was quite trivial but I do remember telling Dr Evthoka about it. A little later my wife pointed out that I appeared to be suffering from bouts of amnesia after taking my Halcion pills at night where I would get very talkative, 'confess' to all manner of things (most of them quite fictitious) but be unable to recall any of them the next morning. Both of us reported this to Dr Evthoka who said that Halcion had an effect similar to a 'truth drug'. My wife remained sceptical because by now my ideas were bordering on the absurd and my behaviour had become highly eccentric especially as my increasingly higher social profile began to draw public attention.
            To the best of my recollection I was taking the following approximate dosages: Anafranil 100 or 175 mg, Ludiomil 75-100 mg, Vivalan 5 pills, Xanax 1 tablet, Valium 5 to 10 x 10 mg, Halcion 1 to 2.5 x .5 mg
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            Once again my wife intervened and suggested that I return to London and consult with a Harley St. specialist and in mid-March we approached Dr Evthoka to that effect. He readily agreed to this but suggested that I reduce my dosages first. My trip was actually planned for the beginning of May, about 6 weeks hence and he wanted to see how I coped on the lower doses before I left. He therefore changed my prescription as per Exhibit 17, p144, i.e. Anafranil 100 or 150 mg, Ludiomil 50 mg, Vivalan 3 tablets, Xanax 1 x 1.5 mg, Valium 2 x 5 mg and Halcion 1 x .5 mg. On hearing this, I complained about the large cut in the Valium whereupon he asked me how much I had actually been taking, it was, after all on a take as required basis and I explained that I 'needed' at least 40 mg daily but occasionally as much as 100 mg on a bad day. I am sure my wife was present.
            Dr Evthoka was adamant about the cut in my Valium dose and he added that as Valium was addictive, I should avoid it as far as possible. This was the very first indication I had been given in my two years on Valium that it was in any way addictive, but, even so, I had no idea what 'addictive' really meant. I decided, as a result, that I did not 'need' any Valium except for dire emergencies so I stopped taking it all together.

  2. Although I was due to see Dr Evthoka six more times before coming to London, I never saw him again because before the week was out, I was well on my way to 'cloud cuckoo land' and within two weeks I was in London firmly believing that the whole world had gone mad and that I was the only sane person left. My psychosis had begun and I was compelled by my rampant delusions to bring my thriller fiction to life in a hilariously tragic fiasco culminating in my arrest. During this period I became very erratic in taking my drugs and for some very obscure reasons I took random and massive overdoses of Vivalan and Halcion. I drank heavily, especially Champagne, and accepted unknown drugs, pills and tabs including copious amounts of cannabis from my four 'Wild Child' groupies. I recovered gradually between 4 and 10 months later. An amazing experience.
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  3. Just before I left Cyprus, I sent my wife to our regular pharmacist to get me a 'prescription'. I did this for no other reason than the fact that page 10 of the Nemo report asks for a 'valid doctor's prescription' which explains exhibit 17, p144. Whilst in London, I became convinced that this was some sort of driving licence and I stuck my passport photo onto it, wrote S. A. Millar at the top in Greek and tried to hire a care with it!
            My wife was rather taken aback by the sudden realisation that I was leaving Cyprus so suddenly and unexpectedly early that, in order to ensure that I did see a doctor in London, she called Dr Evthoka and asked him to prepare my letter of introduction immediately and collected it herself the next day.
            Dr Evthoka's letter, the original copy, was at my mother's house, amongst my papers, and is now in possession of the prosecution. To date, they have not disclosed it to the defence. When they do, it will be seen that Dr Evthoka, unlike Dr Sophocleous, actually included his diagnosis within its text, typewritten on his letter-headed paper, taking me beyond the scope of the Mental Health Act!
            Dr Evthoka saw me a least once a week continuously for nine months, the last time being a few weeks before my arrest. In contrast, Bowden, D'Orban and Robin have seen me for a couple of hours after I'd spent 18 months in prison and from between 1 1/2 and upto 6 years after the events they have deigned to prognosticate about. The disclosure of the Sophocleous letter has completely discredited Bowden but I find it difficult to believe that the prosecution have allowed their own 'experts' to plunge blindly down the same hole in their desperation to cover Bowden's exposure as a charlatan oblivious to Dr Evthoka's indisputable overriding authority with regard to my diagnosis which is actually in the prosecution's hands. Three wrongs do not make a right! They have, however, ensured that I have served a further five months in prison totally secure that their reports will never see the light of day.
            Unless, of course, I decide to call Dr Bowden, just for a laugh; it might be worth it.


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