Ref: A00-300995 Case No. 871626 Macpherson II
Volume VII, Pages 6-61, Thursday 22th June, 1989
Leading to: Volume VIII, Pages 1-14, Friday 23rd June, 1989
(In the presence of the jury)
PANOS SYMEON [sic] KOUPPARIS: Sworn
Examined by Mr. Beckman
Q. What is your full name? A. Panos Symeon [sic] Koupparis.
Q. Your present address? A. My last abroad was at 6
(inaudible) in Nicosia. I am presently at Brixton Prison.
Q. How long have you been in Brixton Prison? A. Twenty-six
months.
Q. How old are you? A. I am 38.
Q. Married? A. Yes.
Q. Children? A. I have one daughter, aged six.
Q. Where were you born? A. I was born in London.
Q. Are you a British citizen? A. Yes, I am.
Q. How long have you lived in the United Kingdom? A. Apart
from a four year period immediately prior to my arrest, I
have lived in this country all my life.
Q. So up to about 1983 you lived here? A. That is correct.
Q. Did you have occasion, up to 1983, to visit Cyprus from time
to time? A. Yes, I used to visit Cyprus regularly.
Q. You attend school until what age? A. The age of 16.
Q. What did you obtain by way of examinations? A. I have 'O'
level pass in two subjects.
Q. The subjects being? A. Chemistry and geography.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: A school in London? A. Dame Alice
Owen's Boys' School, your Lordship.
MR. BECKMAN: Did you take any further education, or not?
A. Not formally, but I have been on a number of privately
sponsored courses since then.
Q. You did not go to university or polytechnic? A. Regrettably
no.
Q. So you left school at 16? A. Yes.
Q. Why? A. It was a case of having to support the family.
My father was very ill at the time and I was the only member
of the family that could work and I had to go out and work.
Q. What work did you do? A. I started in the photographic
industry as - right at the bottom as a messenger boy and
worked my way up to study photography and eventually studio
manager and production controller.
Q. Who did you work for? A. I worked for a number of
companies in the West End of London. The first one was
Central Artists' Agents, where I stayed for two years and
completed my basic photographic apprenticeship. From there
I worked for a number of well known advertising agencies
throughout the West End.
Q. Who, for example? A. There was Telefoto Limited
(inaudible). I did freelance work for J. Salter [sic] Thompson S. A,
Benson - Ogilvy Benson and so on.
Q. Have you ever been involved in sales? A. In sales of
photographic or sales generally?
Q. Sales generally. A. Yes, after about seven years in the
photographic industry I set up my own business in the field
of electronics, and in the early days I was doing everything
from production to sales. Eventually I was ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Not too quickly. You set up your own
business in ---? A. In the electronics field, and in the
early days I was doing everything from keeping accounts to
manufacturing products and actually going out and selling
them. As the business expanded I formed a number of
associations with much larger companies and I became a sales
consultant in the field of specialised electronics and my own
particular speciality was counter-espionage equipment.
Q. In that last connection was there a particular company you
were concerned with? A. Yes, I was a sales representative
for two very large companies in the United Kingdom. One was
the (inaudible) group of companies and the other, which I had
a closer association with, was the Alcom group of companies
with perhaps a number of smaller subsidiaries, including
Alcom Limited and Armalite night vision systems. We under-
took projects mainly for governmental departments, both in
the United Kingdom and overseas. Again it was mainly NATO
alliance countries we worked with, although I did work in the
Middle East and Africa.
Q. When you went to - was that the last lot of work you were
doing before you went to Cyprus in 1983? A. Yes, that is
right.
Q. In 1983 you went to Cyprus. Did you form a company?
A. Yes, I started two businesses and I continued, of course,
my security consultancy [sic] work in the name of Cambanella [sic]. I
also set up Futura Investments Limited. I had done that
before I left the United Kingdom in fact.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You did work as Cambanellos?
A. Cambanella [sic].
Q. And also Futura? A. Futura Investments Limited and
American Publications.
MR. BECKMAN: So far as Cyprus is concerned, you had no brushes
with the law in the sense of any previous convictions?
A. No, I have no problems.
Q. Are you content that such convictions as there are in this
country be told to the jury? A. Yes, I have no objection.
Q. Let us do just that. Do you have a previous conviction for
handling stolen goods? A. Yes, I was convicted of handling
œ24 worth of household electrical equipment, one item.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Just pause; would you speak a little
louder? It was œ24 worth of household electrical equipment?
A. Yes, your Lordship. That is when I was a teenager and I
believe I also - I have - I did something that I received a
œ5 fine for, but I am not sure what that was.
MR. BECKMAN: If it matters the details will be available if it
is of any consequence. A. Yes.
Q. So there is one of 18 months - you got 18 months' probation?
A. Actually, I was discharged from probation after three
months.
Q. I believe also there was some - I do not think this is a
conviction, there was some charge at St. Ives of some
consequence but I do not believe anything happened about
that. A. Immediately prior to my arrest for this I was
arrested by the police in St. Ives. I was held in the police
station overnight and released on police bail and a number of
charges arose out of that, but since I was arrested for this
nothing has happened. I believe that was adjourned sine
die.
Q. Apart from that, you are a man of good character? A. I
would like to think so.
Q. Is it right, are you aware of the fact that unless one
attacks a witness or attacks the prosecution and suggests
dishonesty, you are fully entitled not to tell the jury about
any convictions at all, you can stay mute? A. Yes.
Q. And they need never know in any way of that? A. Yes.
Q. You are still content that they know about these matters.
A. Yes.
Q. May I ask my learned friend one thing? (Pause) I wanted to
be satisfied my learned friend was happy about a certain item
coming out. (To the witness): Mr. Koupparis, you are aware
of the present charges against you: one is demanding $15
million with menaces - that is blackmail - and the other of
attempting to obtain £25,000 by deception from the Cypriot
High Commissioner? A. Yes, I am aware of that.
Q. You are aware you have pleaded not guilty to these matters?
A. I have always maintained my innocence to these.
Q. Was there a previous trial in respect of this matter?
A. Yes, there have been a number of hearings and there was
one full trial about two months ago at the Old Bailey, before
Judge Brian Smedley, QC.
Q. Were you on that occasion tried together with your wife?
A. Yes, my wife was a co-defendant on Count 1 of the
indictment.
Q. She was discharged after the last trial terminated? When I
say "terminated", came to an end. A. Yes, the trial ---
Q. You need not go into details of why unless someone else asks
you, because that is old hat. A. Yes, the trial ended in
some disarray and my wife was found not guilty at the
termination of that.
Q. That was by order of the judge? A. Yes.
Q. I want to go into the background of this matter. Prior to
1981 had you any physical, mental or psychological problems
of any moment? I am not talking about coughs, colds,
measles, things children have or do not have and so on, I am
talking about anything of consequence. A. I have never had
a major illness in my life. I have been fortunate in that
respect and I have never suffered from any form of mental
illness whatsoever and that was carry on up until today.
Q. In 1981 was there a problem? A. There was not a problem as
such but I experienced an unusual and, as one of the doctors
described it, rather bizarre term where I was waking up
suddenly in my sleep and that is all it was. There was no
pain associated with it. It was (inaudible) of not being
able to get a decent night's sleep.
Q. When you woke up did you quietly open your eyes? A. No, I
have always described it as sleep jumping and it was quite a
violent waking up, and there would be a period of panic and
confusion within a few seconds of waking up. I understand
many people experience this and it has since been identified
by the peculiar name of exploding head syndrome.
Q. Did you see your family practitioner? A. Yes, I did.
Q. Who was that? A. Dr. Paul Zidter [sic].
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Can you spell that for me? A. I am
not sure of the spelling, your Lordship.
MR. BECKMAN: It is Z.I.D.T.E.R [sic]. (To the witness): Did he
arrange for you to go to hospital for both medical and
psychological check-ups? A. Not immediately. He told me
to go away and forget about it, but I was rather persistent
and after a few visits to him he agreed to send me to a full
medical check-up as I had not had one before, and he sent me
for haematology, radiology, encephalograph and various other
examinations.
Q. Haematology - blood? A. Yes.
Q. What is the next one? A. Which is an X-ray.
Q. What was the next one? A. Encephalograph.
Q. A brain scan? A. Yes, and I think he sent me along to
have an examination of the throat passage at the same time.
At the time I was getting a sort of spasm in the chest
accompanying this minor explosion in the head when I woke up,
so he investigated the medical side of it fully and he also
sent me to a psychiatrist to see ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Just pause, will you?
MR. BECKMAN: Do you mean a psychiatrist or do you mean a
psychologist? A. Well, I saw both. The psychiatrist
decided there was absolutely nothing wrong with me and sent
me to a psychologist to see if there was any stress or
anxiety in my lifestyle, and that was Dr. Cheryl Ashworth.
She administered quite a number of tests, very comprehensive
tests. I think she was a clinical researcher as well as
being an ordinary doctor, and administered a full range of
psychological tests, and the results of these were perfectly
normal. There was no stress and no anxiety, but
significantly, these tests were designed to show if there was
any neurotic tendency or any psychiatric tendency as well as
a normal proclivity to depression and so on, and I would
like to note that I came outside the psychiatric and neurotic
groups. In other words, I didn't have any proclivity whatso-
ever to that sort of complaint.
The result of all this was I was sent back to my doctor
with the - saying I was perfectly good and healthy; there was
absolutely nothing wrong with me and I should try a sleeping
pill.
Q. Did you? A. Yes, I did. I was first prescribed Ativan.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You are still here in London? A. Yes.
That is a benzodiazepine sleeping tablet known as Lorazepam.
A few weeks later I went for the final consultation to see if
the sleeping pill work. It had worked but I was not very
happy with the way it made me feel. I felt a little drowsy
with it and it was changed to another pill called Mogadon,
and that is one I actually continued to take from that point
onwards.
Q. Between 1981 and 1983, apart from that no problems. You
went to Cyprus in 1983? A. Yes, that is right.
Q. You go there alone? A. My wife, my daughter and myself
went to Cyprus.
Q. Did you continue to take Mogadon? A. In Cyprus the
prescription situation is somewhat different to that in the
United Kingdom. This type of drug is available over the
counter and when I first went to Cyprus of course I did not
have any arrangement with a general practitioner. It is not
the same as it is in England. One has to find a private
doctor. There is no general practice out there when I ran
out of tablets.
Q. You mean no National Health Service? A. There is an
emergency service.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Do not worry about that. A. There is
not a general practitioner service as we have in this
country. It is all private doctors.
Q. You found a doctor? A. Your Lordship, I went to a pharmacy.
MR. BECKMAN: We are not to the doctors yet. Your Lordship is
going ahead with the chronology.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: In that case would you chop him up. It
is impossible to get him in a long dissertation. (To the
witness): Where did you go first? A. I had no need for a
doctor at that time. I had a regular supply of sleeping
pills and I was told pharmacists in Cyprus were qualified to
prescribe certain medication, and these sleeping pills were
amongst those you could obtain, as it were, over the counter.
MR. BECKMAN: Did you? A. Yes, I did. In fact, I showed them
Mogadon and they recommended Normazine [sic](?), or that particular
pharmacist recommended I try Normazine [sic]. I imagine that was
because it was the only one he had, I don't know, but he told
me it was the same thing.
Q. Who was that chemist? A. I cannot tell you the name, I'm
afraid. There is a chemist on every street corner in Cyprus.
I cannot remember which particular one I went to, the name
or address of it, but in any event it was - I subsequently
went to many chemist shops and got exactly the same
prescription.
Q. How long did you take Normazine [sic] for? A. I was in Cyprus at
that period for exactly six months to the day - there was a
reason for that - and I took it for six months and a further
two months when I came back to the UK. I bought two bottles
of 30 tablets with me hoping to stay only two months in the
United Kingdom.
Q. Did you stay there longer? A. As a result of my business
affairs I had to stay for approximately four months and I ran
out of these tablets during the course of my stay.
Q. Did you go and see - as you say, in any event you require a
prescription, unlike Cyprus - did you go and see a doctor?
A. No, I did not. I had de-registered from the National
Health Service when I left England and at that moment in time
I did not have a GP, and I honestly did not feel it was worth
re-registering or even bothering to see a private doctor
because I had run out of sleeping pills, and I simply left
the matter in abeyance. I gave very little thought to the
pills at all.
Q. How long were you out of them and did not have Normazine [sic] to
take? A. Once I stopped taking them, within a week or
two - of course, I was oblivious to this. I made no
connection between the pills and what subsequently happened
to me, but within a couple of weeks I began to change. I
began to lose my memory. I began to behave like as if I was
slightly drunk. I got some slight panicky feelings and I
was very easily confused and rather anxious and somewhat
frightened. There was no reason for any of this. It was
just something that happened over the next few weeks. After
two months I went back to Cyprus and it got worse.
Q. When you found it got worse, what did you then do? A. Well,
I didn't do anything at first.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Where have we reached in date,
approximately? You are back in Cyprus. What was the date
roughly? A. Yes, your Lordship. This would, I believe, be
the summer of - possibly the summer of 1984.
MR. BECKMAN: You are back in Cyprus in the summer of 1984. What
did you do? You had these withdrawal symptoms with
Normazine [sic]; you had not had Normazine [sic] in England; what did you
do when you went back to Cyprus? A. Well, the symptoms got
so bad within a couple of months I actually had to stop work
and there was nothing I could do about it. There was no
rhyme nor reason for it and I suppose we were looking for
some sort of reason why this was happening. It appeared to
be some sort of psychological problem.
Q. Did you start taking Normazine [sic] again in Cyprus or not?
A. Well, my fundamental reason for taking sleeping pills in
Cyprus was to get a good night sleep, but I used to sleep
during the day in Cyprus because I worked during the evening.
My work was with New York and Chicago and New York and Hong
Kong markets so I slept during the day. When I returned to
Cyprus I couldn't sleep (inaudible) and old habits die hard
and from time to time I did take the pills, but I would not
say I was keeping as regular - taking pills as regular as I
had before, simply because I was not working any more. My
whole routine had been disrupted so I was apparently
suffering from (inaudible). I didn't know what it was and,
therefore, as I say, my routine had been disrupted.
Q. How did things then develop as far as you felt? A. Of
course, I was extremely anxious because I had invested a lot
of money in moving my family and establishing the business in
Cyprus. I was at a critical period where I put all my money
into it, put all the effort into it and suddenly found I had
to let it go; I couldn't work.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: It is very difficult, Mr. Koupparis. I
am not criticising you, but I have to tell you it is better
just to answer the question, not put in the parenthesis. Do
you understand? If you do that I cannot make a note of it
for the assistance of the jury, and the shorthand writer must
be having great difficulty. Speak much more slowly, just
answer the question and if anything further is required
Mr. Beckman will ask it. Please try and do that because it
is impossible for the shorthand writer otherwise.
MR. BECKMAN: Mr. Koupparis, might I suggest this: would you
keep your eye on the learned judge's pen?
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: That is not necessary, Mr. Beckman,
thank you for that. As long as he speaks slowly, but it is
only the shorthand writer about whom I am thinking. (To the
witness): You must just answer the question and if anything
further is required experienced counsel will ask you another
one. Do not put in six extra sentences. A. Yes, I will do
my very best.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: It is distracting for me and probably
the jury, and unhelpful in the end for yourself. You were
unable to work; go on from there.
MR. BECKMAN: Perhaps it would be easier if I asked a specific
question. What effect - the fact you were not able to work
and were not working well, what effect did that have on you,
or seem to have upon you? A. I appeared to become
depressed.
Q. The result of your becoming depressed - and I take it it
appears not merely unhappy but really unhappy? A. Yes, it
was not a matter of being unhappy at all.
Q. You had better describe it because not everyone has suffered
depression, even in its minor way. A. It was not anything
to do with my own feelings, it was just general lethargy. I
couldn't work, I just wanted to sleep and just became
despondent as it was.
Q. As a result of that, did you seek help? A. Yes.
Q. Who did you go to? A. I went to several general
practitioners. All of them examined me and said they
couldn't find anything wrong. My wife's gynaecologist
suggested I went to see Dr. Sophocleous. I should mention
that my sleep jumping had come back as well and in a very
much amplified way.
Q. We have a further request. Can you be kind enough - the
jury are the most important people here. It is also
important those who take a note - so if you could raise your
voice slightly --- A. Yes, I will do my best.
Q. Slow down and speak up. Dr. Sophocleous, did you go and see
him at the recommendation of your wife's gynaecologist?
A. Yes, he was a neurologist; that is what I was told.
Q. A neurologist? A. Yes, that is what I understood him to
be, a neurologist.
Q. Effectively a person dealing with the brain in a physical
fashion, if I may put it that way, as opposed to the
psychiatric fashion. A. As I understand it he was a
neurologist. I had no idea that he was also a psychiatrist,
or purported to be a psychiatrist.
Q. A neurologist examines the possibility of physical damage if
there is any problem of a physical nature. A. Yes, it was
not explained to me like that. I was told, "Try
Dr. Sophocleous, he is a good neurologist", and I didn't know
what a neurologist was at that time.
Q. When you saw Dr. Sophocleous, did he prescribe you anything?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he prescribe you? A. He prescribed me with a most
extraordinary medication called Parstelin and he also gave
me - initially he gave me a sleeping pill called Noctem [sic](?)
and a tranquilliser but explained to steady my nerves, called
Lexotanil
Q. Anything else? A. Not at this stage, although after about
two weeks the Noctem [sic]was changed to Normazine [sic].
Q. That is back to square one but you were having a cocktail
with the others. A. Yes. I said to him I did not like - I
preferred Normazine [sic], that is what I had been taking before,
and he said, "Fine, I'll put you back on Normazine [sic]".
Q. Did you take anything else? A. At that stage I do not
remember taking anything during that period of time. Nothing
other than Parstelin, (inaudible) and Normazine [sic]. That was
the first treatment that I remember.
Q. What was the effect of the combination of these drugs
prescribed by Dr. Sophocleous? A. Well, it had a more
remarkable effect because one of the first things that
happened within a few days of taking this drug is I became
highly over-confident and very, very aggressive. I mean,
literally within two weeks of taking this treatment I
changed. My personality changed totally to a point where I
became unrecognisable, even to my own wife.
Q. Earlier you had been lethargic, despondent, not capable of
working, and now? A. Exactly the opposite. It is as if I
had been speeded up or supercharged.
Q. What about sleeping? How did it affect your sleep habits?
A. I didn't sleep at all. I was going three or four days
without any sleep.
Q. How long did it take you personally to recognise the total
change? A. I never did, not until the accident, and then
once I stopped taking the drugs I was able to see I was not -
I hadn't been behaving normally at all.
Q. Sorry, not until ---? A. The accident with the Parstelin.
Q. Would you explain "with the Parstelin"? A. Apparently
Parstelin in combination with certain foods has a lethal or
potentially lethal reaction and I hadn't been told fully that
some foods were prohibited for use with this. So during the
course of the treatment - I think it was my wedding
anniversary - we went out for a meal. We had something that
reacted and I collapsed. I almost died.
Q. Did you go and see Dr. Sophocleous again? A. No, I just
told him I was not going to have that treatment any more.
Q. Did he change the treatment? A. No, he did not change the
treatment. He apologised profusely for not having explained
to me all the dangers of taking it and said he understood if
I did not want to take it any more.
Q. Take which? A. Parstelin.
Q. Did you drop Parstelin off the list? A. After what
happened to me I was not prepared to take it any more; I
almost died.
Q. Did you tell Dr. Sophocleous at any time how your -
"personality" is the wrong word - how your behaviour had
changed from the passive and despondent to the merry and
over-active? A. I think he must have gathered that because
during that period my wife had actually tried to commit
suicide as a result of the dramatic change in my personality.
He is the one who came and revived her so he must have been
able to see. My wife told him this is what had happened as a
result of it and she said he said at the time that aggression
and over-confidence were a side effect of the drug, but I had
to agree I was not depressed any more and therefore it was
beneficial.
Q. So now you are taking any drugs? A. Only my regular
sleeping pill.
Q. When I say "now", after what you call the accident you just
took the sleeping pill? A. Yes, your Lordship.
Q. Did you explain to Dr. Sophocleous your change? A. I did
not explain.
Q. You explained to Dr. Sophocleous the change upon your habits?
A. He noticed these himself because ---
Q. What was his reaction? Was his reaction - was the treatment
succeeding, failing or what? A. He told me he had used
this treatment himself personally on a number of occasions.
He highly recommended it and I had to attempt much work.
Q. Did you stay on some drugs with him? A. No. In fact,
apart from seeing him - by this time we had become business
partners in a limited sense. Apart from seeing him for
business I did not take any more of these drugs. At that
time I stopped all his treatment. I was not very happy with
what had happened and neither was my wife.
Q. Between what time and what time did you see him? A. It
was about from the first time I saw him to the end of that
treatment. That reaction with the food was about between
two or three months. I continued to see him socially until
perhaps two or three months after that point.
Q. How long were you seeing him professionally, over what
period? A. Altogether?
Q. Yes. A. Right up until summer '86.
Q. Starting when? A. The early summer of '84 - no, '85.
Q. So you were seeing him professionally for a period of
approximately a year? A. I think it was somewhat over a
year we have just covered now; first six months.
Q. You have told us for the first period he had prescribed for
you Lexotanil and Parstelin. You told us about that Noctem [sic]
and Normazine [sic]. A. Yes, that is right, the Normazine [sic]---
Q. During the period you were with him between the summer of
1985 and the summer of 1986, were you prescribed any other
drugs than the others I have referred to? A. Yes, indeed.
After that break, when the withdrawal symptoms came back my
wife persuaded - when I reverted to what I had been before I
went to see him, then my wife persuaded me to try again and I
went back to see him.
Q. What were the additional drugs that he prescribed?
A. Well, over the next year the number of drugs is a
bewildering range.
Q. As far as you can remember. A. Do you want the entire
list or do you want the actual treatment in different
combinations because there were dozens of different
combinations, different dosages at different times. The
moment he dropped a drug, put another one in; differed the
doses, half this dose; it was a very complicated ongoing
situation.
Q. I think the way we will do it, subject to - unless anyone
else wants greater detail at this stage - is by way of asking
you, you having explained the fact the cocktail varied from
time to time and the prosecution have information of the sort
of cocktails we are going to refer to in medical terms.
Having said that can you just give us a list as it were
rather than every single individual variation that
Dr. Sophocleous suggested? A. Surrector [sic] - it is a French
drug - Melleril, (inaudible) Parstelin.
Q. Again? A. Yes, Stelazine. I believe he gave me a course
of twelve insulin injections as well.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You mean you know that you had
injections and you believe it was insulin? A. No, at the
time he wouldn't identify what they were but ---
Q. You know that you had injections? A. I had a course of
twelve specific injections.
Q. You are not sure what was injected? A. No. I was not sure
then, I am now.
MR. BECKMAN: You were not sure then, you are now. Can you tell
us how you know what you were injected with now - what you
were injected with then, you now know to be insulin?
A. That particular course of injections had specific - it
was not just a jab and go home; I had to do specific things
and certain things happened to me within a few hours. Then
I had to eat huge quantities of sugary food, thick jam
sandwiches, lumps of cheese and huge cups of sweet tea, and I
had to lie perfectly still for three quarters of an hour.
Then I got palpitations and things and I put on a tremendous
amount of weight. In the period immediately afterwards I put
two stone in weight on. I had been seen by dozens of doctors
while I have been in prison and every time I have described
this to them, they always unanimously said, "This is insulin,
it cannot be anything else".
Q. Returning to the list, what other things were you prescribed
by Dr. Sophocleous? A. There was a range of sleeping
tablets, Roctinal [sic], Normazine [sic]. I was given a PRN
prescription for Valium.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: What is that? A. "Take as required."
It was no specific dosage.
Q. Of Valium? A. Yes, your Lordship.
MR. BECKMAN: What else? A. Can you refresh my memory as to
what I have mentioned?
Q. Normazine [sic], Solideol [sic]- the one you described as French.
A. Surrector [sic].
Q. Parstelin, (inaudible), Melleril, Valium, insulin, Roctinal [sic].
A. Did I say Roctinal [sic]?
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Yes, you did.
MR. BECKMAN: What else? A. Off-hand that is all I remember.
There were so many pills and things. If I have left one out
I can look at my notes and check it out, but there were an
awful lot of drugs. It is easier, far easier, for me to
remember the actual treatment rather than the drugs in a
list. If we had done it that way round I could be sure I had
given you all of them. That is the way I remember them.
Q. You mean to say if I asked you to divide it up into a series
of individual cocktails, you are in a position to remember
what you were given at any particular time? A. That is far
easier for me because I was taking the same cocktail day
after day after day. One remembers which in that fashion.
Q. Then may I suggest this: rather than have a situation which
is going to take a long time (and I think the precise details
day after day are also going to be a trifle boring), may I
suggest what you do overnight, subject to his Lordship's
views, is write it out as it were in the form of a schedule.
Will you do it that way? A. Yes, I will.
Q. Then we can supply it to the prosecution and to such experts
who are going to appear who can tell us about it. Can you do
it that way round? A. Yes, I will.
Q. What was the effect - you stopped seeing Dr. Sophocleous in
the summer, I think, of 1986. By then what was the effect -
the end results - the effect of the drugs upon you? A. At
the end of '86?
Q. Yes. A. I was what I would describe as hypernoid [sic], a
zombie. I was asleep virtually 23 hours a day. I was
totally unable to move. My brain functions had totally
ceased to the point where I couldn't even have a normal
conversation with anyone. I was just a chronic drug addict.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: This is now 1986? A. Yes, your
Lordship, this is late summer, mid summer '86.
MR. BECKMAN:
Sleepy or depressed? A. I was not depressed. I
was just tranquillised.
Q. Lethargical? A. Not even lethargical, actually physically
asleep.
Q. Confused? A. No, I wouldn't say I was confused at all; I
was just sleeping all the time.
Q. Did you go - did you eventually leave Dr. Sophocleous?
A. In the sense we were forced to by the fact one of the
drugs we were taking was withdrawn from the market.
Q. Which is that? A. Parstelin.
Q. Do you know why it was withdrawn from the market? A. At
that time I didn't. I do know now. It was a mystery and
no-one wanted to explain to us why that drug had suddenly
been withdrawn from the market.
Q. You went to see another doctor, did you not? A. Yes, my
wife became alarmed. She consulted with a doctor friend of
hers and she suggested another doctor and I eventually - she
made an appointment for me with Dr. Evdokas, it is a Greek
name.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Evdokas? A. Yes.
MR. BECKMAN: What did he do? What was his treatment of you?
A. He immediately told me to stop all the treatment that I
had been receiving from Dr. Sophocleous and I had to return
to him in two weeks to start new treatment.
Q. So you stopped all the old drugs. How long did you then come
off drugs for? A. Exactly two weeks.
Q. What was the effect? A. Almost indescribable. The effect
it had on me was it affected every particle of my existence,
from my mind to my body physically. I began to oscillate
uncontrollably, tremble. I had hot and cold flushes,
hyperventilating. I had panic attacks. I developed phobias.
I was unable to go into the toilet. I became frightened. I
believe this is called paranoia. I became frightened of
seeing things that were inexplicable. I also began to
hallucinate. I saw things that were not there, vivid images.
My temperament changed. From sleeping 24 hours a day I
became unable to sleep, totally unable to sleep. In fact,
I couldn't even stand still. I had to physically run on the
spot until I exhausted myself and dropped to the ground.
That is some idea of what happened to me. It doesn't
sound as bad as it was. I can assure you it was a living
hell for those two weeks.
Q. Then did you go and see - I think you said two weeks. Did
you then go to see Dr. Evdokas? A. I was taken to see
Dr. Evdokas by my wife. He began a new treatment which was
explained that it would neutralise the effects of the
previous treatment.
Q. What did he prescribe you? A. At this point I have a
little difficulty because I was incapable of actually taking
the prescription from the doctor myself and administer drugs
personally, so the arrangement was that he would give the
prescription to my wife and she would cash them in at the
chemist and make sure I took them at the relevant times, in
the right dosages.
I do remember what I took and my memory coincides with
the prescription that is one of the exhibits here. He gave
me - initially he give me Ludiomil; about two weeks after
that he added Aprinol [sic], Halcion, Largactil and (inaudible). I
also - with his agreement I then began to take the Valium
that was already on Dr. Sophocleous' previous prescription.
At some point he dropped Largactil and (inaudible) from the
prescription and he added Vivalan and Zanox [sic](?) so that
towards the end I was taking Nefrolan [sic], Ludiomil, Vivalan,
Zanox [sic], Halcion and Valium.
Q. Did you ever take (inaudible)? A. That is not a drug I
remember taking.
Q. Stelazine? A. I took Stelazine with Dr. Sophocleous not
Dr. Evdokas.
Q. Did you have these drugs with Dr. Evdokas in any one given
combination or was it like Dr. Sophocleous, in several
combinations or cocktails? A. There was two major
combinations. I described the first one had Largactil and
the second had Vivalan and Zanox [sic] added to the others when
Largactil ---
Q. With the second doctor which was the final combination?
A. The final two and there was minor variations throughout
the whole course of treatment.
Q. Again do the same thing overnight and produce this schedule
with Dr. Evdokas. It is obviously going to be an easier
one. A. Yes.
Q. By January 1987, what was the effect of the treatment upon
you? A. Well, I would say that I never recovered. By that
time the mental disturbance that had occurred in stopping the
previous treatment, and in fact my mental condition continued
to get worse, although at the time as if I were getting
better because I appeared to be livelier, brighter, active,
but in fact no-one was able to tell, my thought processes
were getting scrambled and twisted and warped and I was
beginning to live in a fantasy world.
Q. Tell us more about that. A. Well, initially it started
with just vivid three-dimensional colour dreams like
(inaudible) which I could see and could tell they were not
real. I often complained about this effect to Dr. Evdokas
and he said, "It is due to the drugs, don't worry, it will
pass". Eventually I began living in these dreams and I was
unable to tell they were actually happening. They were real,
it was reality for me.
A little while later I began to experience amnesia. It
started in a very trifling way and progressively got worse
and worse until I was almost totally in that stage of amnesia
and only came out occasionally rather than going into it for
a short while.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: What do you mean by that? You mean
you were forgetting things? A. No, your Lordship. What I
mean is I was living certain sequences of my life but then,
when that phase stopped, I was unable to remember anything
that had happened and this coincided with the exact moment
that I took Halcion tablets at night. Instead of going to
sleep I would end up in a state which I can only describe as
almost sleep walking and I would go out and do the most
amazing things. I would go out to nightclubs, something I
don't normally do, for instance, and spend thousands of
pounds buying drinks for everybody. When I would get home I
wouldn't remember I had done anything like this at all. In
fact it was unusual because I didn't go out of the house
normally. I was agorophobic [sic]. I was afraid to go out of the
house (inaudible) I was gallivanting around town without
knowing about it. Other people pointed this out to me.
Q. When these things happened, you went out to the clubs in the
night, were you yourself? A. I don't know.
Q. Have you any idea who you were when you were out at these
clubs doing things you do not normally do? A. I wasn't
behaving within my normal behaviour pattern. I was not
associating with any people that I normally know because my
friends do not go to places like this, so I am not in a
position to say because I haven't met anyone since I
recovered to tell me what I was doing or who I thought I was
at that time. This was in the early stages before things
got really bad.
Q. We come, as I said, to this time early 1987. Let us move on
as it were from what you were doing, drugs, to some of the
facts we have heard about in this case, and just so that
there can be no doubt about it, I think I am right in saying
apart from perhaps matters of detail, you do not dispute any
of the facts? A. As you say, there are matters of detail
but in general - apart from making the caveat I was never
blackmailing the Government of Cyprus nor was I attempting to
deceive them with a view to permanently deprive them - the
actual what are called facts of the case I do not dispute
because I am not really in a position to dispute everything
accurately or strongly.
Q. I am going to put facts to you in the same chronology that
the prosecution are suggesting. What is your first recall of
these matters, for example in general terms, the tickets
purchased? A. Well, yes, unfortunately, when I was
arrested I continued to stay in that state for a while and I
was shown all the depositions and statements while I was in
that state and of course everything became absorbed and
became part of the delusions and fantasy, so I can remember
this case as it were through the eyes of all the witnesses.
It is very difficult for me to figure out which events
actually represent what I did and whether that is true or
not. Some things people have confirmed to me, "We definitely
did that together", then I can say with great certainty,
"Yes, that is what happened". I have too many memories,
that is the problem.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You were asked originally - what was the
question? Would you put it again, the tickets.
MR. BECKMAN: I gave them as an example, asking what memory
recall he had.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Would you ask it again. (To the
witness): See if you can answer the question first.
MR. BECKMAN: I had asked what sort of memory recall do you have
of these events, and as an example the tickets?
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Do you remember buying the tickets, what
are called the Winthorpe [sic] tickets? A. I have to accept I
did buy those tickets, your Lordship, but to actually say
that I actually remember that event - I remember several
different events that can be that event but all of them are
different.
MR. BECKMAN: I am going to interrupt you deliberately because I
want to recap on something you said so you know exactly what
you are saying. You have told us of difficulties in precise
recall and you have told us the extent to which you have read
the depositions whilst being in prison and the fact that you
are still suffering when first arrested. Do you follow?
A. That is correct.
Q. Can you at this stage clearly distinguish between that which
you can recall as having done and that which you read about
in the papers whilst you were in prison? A. In many cases
I can, in some cases I am not sure.
Q. Will you be very careful as I go through, not all but the
important parts of the chronology, to say that where you can
in your mind see it, that where you accept you are sure it
happened but to what extent it has come into your mind
because of what you have read, and so on. Do you follow?
A. Yes.
Q. If unsure about anything do not let yourself be tied down by
any questions from any of us, only if you are sure be
precise. Do you follow? A. Yes.
Q. That is very, very important. On 21st March we know that a
ticket for Mr. Winthorpe [sic], returning by way of a flight on
29th March, was purchased. Do you recall doing that?
A. Yes, I think so.
Q. Did you telephone through the reservation? A. I cannot
remember that.
Q. We know that an excess baggage voucher for 100 kilos was
purchased; do you recall that? A. Yes.
Q. Do you recall why you did it? A. Yes.
Q. Why did you? A. I was due to come to London to see a
specialist and I needed a ticket, and I gather I bought a
couple of tickets and I needed to be actually travelling on
another ticket, but at that time I had so many delusions that
these tickets actually became part of one of the delusions
that I had, and for instance, the choice of the name
Winthorpe [sic]- by that time I was believing that I owned a
company called Winthorpe [sic] that manufactures a range of drugs
which begin with the name "Pan" - Panadol, Panacil [sic], they are
all made by Winthorpe [sic] - and I had been engaged in a fantasy
which had been preceded by the film Trading Places. Somehow
all that got mixed up with the reality of what was going
on, my buying a ticket to home.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: What were you actually saying about
the 100 kilos of baggage? A. I thought it was a ticket.
Q. No, we passed from the tickets. Why did you pay over œ400
for 100 kilos baggage allowance? A. I think it was because
I must have come across something in the writings that I was
reading about 100 kilos of baggage.
MR. BECKMAN: Read something about what? I missed that. A. I
must have read something about 100 kilos of baggage.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: "I must have come across something in
the writing I was reading about 100 kilos of baggage."
MR. BECKMAN: What was this writing you were reading? A. Well,
I was reading - the doctor had put me on therapy called
bibliotherapy, which involves reading and writing, and at the
beginning it was playing with children's toys really then it
progressed to watching cartoons and then reading simple books
and moving up, until eventually I was reading bigger novels
and so on, newspapers and magazines. I also did a lot of
writing. I even bought a word processor so I could write
because I couldn't go out and I wrote, I remember, a
considerable amount of material, all sorts of things.
Q. Was any of the writing anything like the sort of stuff that
we have seen in this case in the jury bundle and I referred
to in my speech this morning? A. Oh, yes.
Q. Were any of the cartoon films you saw, did they have any
characters in them that manifest an appearance in this case?
A. As a matter of fact, yes.
Q. Can you tell us which cartoon characters manifest an
appearance here? A. I will give you a few examples, there
are many, but there was characters in Trading Places, for
instance Winthorpe [sic]. Eddie Murphy had been Ackroyd and
Winthorpe [sic] (inaudible).
Q. Trading Places, that is a film, is it not? A. Yes.
Q. A film where two people change places and change identities?
A. Yes.
Q. What other characters might have some connection with the
characters or explain the characters that appear in this
scenario? A. Darth Vada [sic] from the Star Wars film and also
the colonel in the book Floodgate by Alistair MacLean.
Q. What is the name of that film (sic)? A. I do not remember
his actual name in the book but he became a sort of
(inaudible) for Colonel Digsby and Commander Nemo eventually.
In fact this description that has been given of the hat,
glasses, single black leather glove, is straight out of - in
fact the whole thing, the threat to the government, even this
organisation, the name of the organisation, is the same thing
in this case as appears in the best-seller Floodgate.
Q. That was a book by Alistair MacLean? A. That is right, it
is a best-seller.
Q. The character in that that you referred to being what, a
colonel but you cannot recall his name? A. It is something
like Van der Grave. He is a Dutch policeman who infiltrates
an organisation called F3 which plans to blow up Holland by
blowing the dykes [sic].
Q. Anything else by way of films you saw, books you read,
cartoons you saw? A. There is Digby [sic] of course which became
Digsby with his duck impressions on the telephone (inaudible)
my daughter used to watch that.
Q. Duck impressions on the telephone? A. They refer to
Digsby. They were always associated with Digsby when the
calls were made.
Q. Digsby the duck or Digsby the colonel? A. It was just an
association. It is difficult to explain things that normally
would not be associated in one's mind.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Digsby was an invented name from another
source? A. Yes, it was an allusion. I was finding all
sorts of pseudonyms and word associations that did not exist.
If I can give one example, there is mention of a bleaching
powder name; that meant MI5 because "VIM" spelt backwards is
"MIV", which is the Roman numeral for 5. To me it made
sense and I assumed everyone else would see that.
MR. BECKMAN: On 23rd March we know the further ticket Larnaca,
London. Before I go from 22nd March, it would appear that
you stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Cyprus. Do you recall
that? A. Well, I often stay at the Hilton. I do have
business associated there. I do not ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Just hang on; 22nd March --- A. I do
not particularly remember the dates so I cannot say that I
definitely stayed there.
MR. BECKMAN: March 23rd, ticket for Larnaca to London, departure
26th March. A. That is the ticket I transferred on.
Q. A gentleman appeared at the airport dressed in bandages.
A. The Invisible Man.
Q. What? A. He has been called "The Invisible Man" in Cyprus.
"The Invisible Man", that is what they described him as in
Cyprus in the press.
Q. Was that you? A. Yes, I remember that I was wearing
bandages at one time.
Q. Did you take the 'plane on 26th March? A. Which one was
that, sorry?
Q. Did you fly from London to Larnaca on 26th March? A. No, I
would have flown from Larnaca to London, wouldn't I?
Q. Quite right, from Larnaca to London. You did that on 26th
March? A. I think so yes. I'm not familiar with dates
but I did come to London round that time.
Q. At that time, before you went - we know that on 23rd March,
thereabouts, a demand document was sent or received at the
Presidential Palace. A. Yes.
Q. Did you send it? A. It appears highly likely that I sent
it. I do not actually remember sending it but ---
Q. Do you remember preparing it? A. Well, at the last trial
it appeared in this court and it apparently was in a binder
of some sort. I do not have any access to that sort of
binder. I have seen a document, sheaves of paper. I was a
little taken aback by the fact it seemed to have been bound
in some sort of plastic binder with a spine.
Q. That is the normal thing that is done by the police in
respect of documents, particularly when they have been
printed, in order to preserve them. You do not dispute that
it was you who sent the document to the Presidential Palace?
A. I am not in a position to say 100 per cent that I
actually did it myself.
Q. Do you recall sending it yourself, or not? A. No, I do
not.
Q. Do you recall preparing it yourself, or not? A. Well, as I
say, in the form it was presented to the Court as an
exhibit ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I do not think that is what Mr. Beckman
is asking you. It is the 14 or 15 pages of typescript about
which he is asking you. Do you remember preparing that
document? A. As I said at the previous trial, I do not
actually remember ever having prepared this document in that
form. Mind you, with a word processor one can edit out of a
bigger set of documents something in that form in a matter of
minutes so ---
MR. BECKMAN: We know that you arrived in London from Larnaca on
26th March. Do you recall making any reservation for
Winthorpe [sic] on 30th March, departure on 1st April? A. Yes, I
think that - you see, I was due to go to Manchester to see a
doctor, but for some reason I came to London instead, and
then I changed that other ticket. It appears that I changed
that other ticket to 1st April.
Q. Who was the doctor you were going to see in Manchester?
A. Dr. Nicholas Vyse [sic]. He is man No. 2, delegate No. 2 in
surveillance locus.
Q. Why did you change the reservation to 1st April? A. It is
complex to pick it up from that point because one of the
delusions I had at that time was that I had to get myself a
job. I had been working for the Cypriot Ministry previous to
my becoming addicted to the drugs, and as I was getting back
in it, I thought I was getting back in the swing of things, I
decided to apply for a job as a security adviser with the
Cypriot Ministry of Defence, and this was part of the sort of
delusion. In the end I ended up actually trying to become
President of Cyprus. That was the scale of the job I was
after, but initially it started off with just an attempt to
try and introduce myself back to that because my minister had
been sacked. The man I had been working for at that time was
not in the government of the time, by that time of 1987.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I have now forgotten the question.
Would you ask it again, Mr. Beckman?
MR. BECKMAN: My Lord, the question was, "Why did you change the
ticket to 1st April?" and the witness then said it was
difficult answering it, if I may put it in that way, to
answer from that point, then started to describe certain
matters.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Can you remember why you changed the
date of the ticket? A. Well, it had to be - there were
many reasons, your Lordship. One of the reasons was that the
change in the date had to appear on the computers in the
United Kingdom as well as the ones in Cyprus. In the event
that the Cypriot Government were to try to erase a record of
that ticket at the Cyprus end, the record would still remain
at the British end.
MR. BECKMAN: If I may ask the question this way, you were
talking about the possibility of becoming President of
Cyprus - fact, fantasy or delusion? A. Well, obviously
there is no possibility that I can ever become President of
Cyprus, but at that time I imagine I had a grandiose plan to
actually take on the Presidency of Cyprus to rectify - I mean
solve - most of the world's problems.
Q. The statement that you made concerning working for a minister
or ministry - fact, fantasy or delusion? A. No, I had
worked for a Cypriot ministry, but only for a short period.
Q. Was that person still a minister? A. No.
Q. By then? A. No.
Q. When did that person lose his office as minister? A. I
think it was the previous year.
Q. On 1st April we know that a woman handed in at Larnaca
Airport an envelope for collection by a passenger flying at
14.15 to London. It was addressed to "Mr. Nemo, to be
collected". First of all, can you recall whether you had
anything to do with that? A. Yes, when I gave evidence at
the committal - which was shortly after the event and when I
was still partly recovering from the psychosis, but I think
there was still some element of it existing at the time - I
gave an explanation which seemed to be fairly comprehensive
as to how that came about.
Q. The explanation you gave in your deposition at the
magistrates' court, do you have a recollection of the events
there referred to now or are you merely telling us that is
what you told the magistrates at the time? A. Well, the
prison authorities had diagnosed I was still in psychosis at
that point. I do not know to what extent it may have been
accurate, whether that information I gave at the time was
accurate or not. Since then I have recovered completely but
I have also recovered a lot more memories and I have
conflicting memories of everything. I have several different
versions in my memory of what happened.
Q. Have you a recollection as to whether you arranged for that
to happen, or not, a specific recollection? A. Well, if I
bought a ticket I must have arranged it all; it is as simple
as that.
Q. Do you recall - we know that 'phone calls were made to the
Presidential Palace speaking to the palace guards requesting
to speak to the President. We know on 2nd April Digsby was
one of the characters making a 'phone call. We know there
were telephone calls to the Minister of Finance. Do you
yourself recall making those telephone calls? A. Yes, I
do, and I remember making quite a few other calls as well in
similar vein.
Q. The other calls that you made, were they in the same
character as Digsby, or other characters? A. If we are
talking about 2nd April ---
Q. Yes, 2nd April. A. Digsby spoke to several Cypriot
ministers on that day, not only Mavrellis.
Q. Which character were you when you spoke to the others; can
you recall? A. It was all Digsby.
Q. You spoke to other ministers? A. Yes.
Q. Were there any other characters on 2nd April? A. I do not
remember if there were any other calls recorded as any other
characters.
Q. Can you recall now why you did do what you were doing?
A. Yes, I had to find out why the Cypriots had failed, sort
of, the intelligence test that I had set. You see, they
failed to make contact with Nemo on 1st April, and that was
the end of that experiment, but it was impossible to tell
whether they failed as a result of understanding that it was
all a hoax or whether they had actually taken it seriously,
and naturally I wanted to know so that I could either defuse
the situation or whether I had a chance of getting the job I
was after.
Q. How would you get a job doing this? A. Well, it would
have demonstrated what I felt at that time were my unique
capabilities.
Q. Which were? A. To save the Island of Cyprus from all the
paranoid fears that I had developed over the preceding few
months.
Q. So the job you would get would be a real job, but your fears
were fictional at that time? A. I think everything was
unreal. I couldn't possibly have carried out any job in the
state I was in. Some of the time I didn't know who I was or
whether I was alive or dead.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You mean the job you were asking for or
the job to help clear up the mess? To which job are you
referring? A. There was never any prospect of a mess, your
Lordship.
Q. Just bear with me a minute; we know that you offered your
services and eventually you received what you thought was
œ25,000. Is it anything to do with that or is this something
quite different? A. Your Lordship, it was a sort of role
because of delusions that I was impelled to carry out at all
times. I believe now that I was working on false information
but at the time I thought everything I was doing was logical
and reasonable. Of course it was not.
MR. BECKMAN: We know a telephone call was made again to the
Presidential Palace on 3rd April. Do you recall making that
call? A. If I were to have some sort of reference dates -
I'm afraid I have no recollection of the dates at all or even
the sequence of things happened. I have lost all that in
the recovery process, so saying to me "3rd April", I don't
know what happened on that date.
Q. Can we put it this way: you do have recall, do you, of
making telephone calls to the Presidential Palace on
different days? A. Yes. I mean, there were days when I
made dozens of calls in the evening and into the night; three
o'clock in the morning, waking up different ministries and
palace guards.
Q. Let us move from telephone calls to visits to the printers.
Did you go to the printers later in April? A. We were
talking about some particular shop? I visited many print
shops.
Q. No, we are talking about Moore. A. Yes, I did visit with
my brother.
Q. Do you recall having photocopying and typing done? A. I
never had any typing done there. I did the typing myself and
I made quite a few photocopies of various different things.
Q. They are losing you behind again, if you can speak up. Do
you recall - we know that a package was sent to the Cypriot
High Commission in London via Catford Couriers. We know you
did that. The question is, do you remember doing it?
A. What I do remember is that what I said was not what
appears to have been found. Whether that is because I forgot
to put what I intended into the envelope or not I don't know,
but I do remember at the previous trial (inaudible) himself
confirmed I photocopied some pages out of an Amstrad computer
magazine and the reason I did that was in order to send it,
and it was photocopied and that magazine is now in the unused
material and I have seen it. At the last trial I was allowed
by his Lordship, Judge Smedley, to look at that material and
it deals exactly what I remember photocopying that day, but
it doesn't seem to have appeared in the exhibits.
Q. You do not have recall, or can you recall? A. As I say,
there are things I do remember.
Q. Can you recall between what you did, what you thought you did
or what you intended to do? A. It is difficult without
having corroboration or without seeing the exhibit. Having
seen the exhibit obviously I confirm. If I had been
hallucinating that exhibit would not have existed, but the
fact a witness states, "I photocopied it", and the fact the
exhibit is in that unused material is very strong
corroboration that what I believe I did I actually did.
Q. So the jury are aware, unused material consists of documents,
for example, found at your premises which the prosecution
have not put in by way of exhibits for the Court, which can
then be seen by anybody and used if necessary. A. That has
not been the case in this trial.
MR. BECKMAN: I am just explaining to the jury what unused
material is just so they know it is unused material.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Mr. Beckman, it is not said that you
have not been allowed to see anything you wanted?
MR. BECKMAN: No, my Lord, I was not saying that.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: No, not you, but your client said that,
not in this trial but in the other, he was allowed to see
something. I am not quite clear what he meant.
THE WITNESS: There are things, your Lordship, I have requested
and I still have not seen.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: If you need them I am sure Mr. Beckman
will get them for you. You are being asked, you will
appreciate, about what are called the demand documents. You
know about what we are talking? A. Yes.
MR. BECKMAN: I cannot accept blank responsibility in a case as
complicated as this. Where there is something specific that
can be handled I have dealt with it.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I think you were originally being asked
whether you remembered giving an envelope containing 15 or 16
pages to Catford Couriers; do you remember that? A. No, I
do not actually remember it but I have been identified, I
think positively identified.
MR. BECKMAN: Do you remember why you did it? A. It was at
the request of the Cypriots. By that time I knew that they
had received the first envelope as a result of my discussions
with the various ministers; that is Colonel Digsby.
Q. Who were these ministers with whom you discussed matters
which enabled you to know that you had received - that they
had in fact received this earlier document? A. You would
like their names?
Q. Yes. A. Iacovou ---
Q. You mention it and I must ask you do bear in mind, as my
experience in matters of law is a trifle greater than yours,
if you mention something in court, unless it is totally
irrelevant we will ask you details about it. I certainly
will and if I do not you may rest assured Mr. Temple will.
Would you please tell us who are these other ministers to
whom you spoke? A. I spoke to Iacovou, Michaelides.
Q. Iacovou, he was Minister of ---? A. Foreign Affairs.
Q. The next one? A. Michaelides.
Q. He was ---? A. Minister of the Interior.
Q. The next one? A. I spoke to Marcus Panos, who was the
ex-Minister of Labour.
Q. Anyone else? A. Mr. Veniamin who was the ex-Minister of
Defence. I also spoke to ---
Q. What was his name? A. Veniamin; it is Benjamin.
Q. A.M.I.N? A. Yes, Amin, like Idi Amin but it is Veniamin,
and the former Attorney General, Mr. Karaghiorges [sic]. Most
didn't know anything about it, genuinely didn't know. Later
Mr. Mavrellis who I also spoke to - he was Minister of
Finance.
Q. Do you have a direct or distinct recall of each of these
'phone calls to which you have just referred? A. Well, to
the same extent that I have (inaudible). With Mavrellis I
had a specific reason, 200 dollar bills, for getting on to
him over and over again, but with the others all I wanted to
know was why or what the reaction had been. Not whether they
were taking it seriously - in other words, I had to defuse
the situation - or whether they had realised it was all a
hoax and I could carry on and introduce myself and so on.
Q. So you were aware from them that they had received the
document? A. Only two of them knew.
Q. Who were the two who knew you had received the document?
A. That they had received it was Iacovou and Michaelides.
Q. Did you know from the other ministers what their plan was
in relation to you in your other guises? A. Sorry, I do not
understand that question.
Q. When you spoke to the other ministers. A. Which other
ministers?
Q. The ones you have just told us about who had been - who are
not witnesses in this case. When you spoke to them what
identity were you using? A. In the case of three of those
they recognised me. They would be in a position to recognise
me if I spoke to them in Greek anyway because I know them
fairly well. Two of them are members of my family so I was -
it is strange, there was no way that inter-action between
them and me couldn't - it was forced at me as it were, and I
was rather upset they didn't make any move to ask me to be
adviser on the subject, but it appears now they didn't,
genuinely didn't, know anything about it. In the case of
the other two I could use an identity which I created for
the - if you like for the storyline weeks before that of
Colonel Digsby, but he had become incorporated into my
delusions to the point where he was almost switching himself
on and off in my mind.
Q. Did you tell them - and when I say "them" I mean those who
are not witnesses in this case - did you tell them that you
were Koupparis, Panos Symeon [sic] Koupparis, or did they
appreciate you were; in two instances they knew you were?
A. In three instances, as I say, the situation was forced by
the fact I knew these people and it just came naturally. I
used my own identity, but my identity with them is
Cambanella. That is the name they know me as.
Q. Did you tell them as Panos Symeon [sic] Koupparis you were using
a different identity in relation to this matter? A. No.
Oh no.
Q. How did you explain it to them that you were enquiring?
A. I told them that I had heard from my people.
Q. Your people being whom? A. Colonel Digsby.
Q. So you as Panos Koupparis speaking to these other ministers
were saying that you had heard from your people and your
people was Colonel Digsby? A. That is right.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I think you said you used Cambanellos.
A. Yes, I used the name Cambanellos [sic] with members of my
family because that is my family name.
Q. I may be mistaken, but I thought you said that to these
politicians you used the name Cambanellos [sic]. Is that right or
wrong? A. Yes, your Lordship, they know me as Cambanellos [sic].
MR. BECKMAN: Is it right your original family name is
Cambanellos [sic]? A. Yes.
Q. But some people know you as Cambanellos [sic], some people Panos
Koupparis? A. Mr. Panos Koupparis (inaudible) from my
father's name so he has the father's name to members of the
family.
Q. At any rate, to go back to the conversations you had with at
least two of the ministers, if not three, you were using the
name Cambanellos [sic]. You were referring to your people being
MI5 or "Vim" backwards and Colonel Digsby and saying you had
got information from them and were asking the ministers
whether or not the document had been received? A. Correct.
Q. And they told you they had or they had not? A. Three of
these didn't know anything about it. In fact Mavrellis as
well, so that makes four people didn't know anything about it
at all. Only two, the ones I mentioned, Iacovou and
Michaelides, knew about the matter and in fact it appears
they were taken in to some extent as Mr. Mavrellis was. They
believed Digsby was 'phoning on behalf of Wilberforce when
they had a conversation with me.
Q. Wilberforce? A. Yes, that is my wife's boss, the High
Commissioner for Britain in Cyprus.
Q. Tell me, why did you send the document via a courier?
A. Well, if I sent what I think I sent I would - before I
can answer that may I check to see one exhibit, the original
typed document which has come to be known as the Digsby
telex. It would help me very much to remember exactly
what ---
Q. Do you need to see the original or a copy? A. No, it is
the original I would like to see. I believe it isn't in the
document bundle.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Exhibit 3, RAH 18. We will see if we
can find it. Meanwhile, you can continue.
MR. BECKMAN: My Lord, I cannot go beyond that point yet, unless
it will take a long time, in which case I will change the
subject.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Look at the bundle with the copies for a
moment. A. I have seen the copies. It is the actual typed
original I need to look at.
Q. Why? A. Because there is something I am confused about and
it would clear up the whole thing. (Handed to the witness)
(Pause) Your Lordship, what I am trying to determine if this
is the actual typed copy or a photocopy.
Q. Look at it. You have asked to look at it; look at it for
yourself. A. Can I open the packet?
Q. Certainly, yes. A. Not worried about fingerprints? (Pause)
Your Lordship, this is actually a photocopy. As far as I
can tell this is not the original that the forensic report
was done on.
Q. Put it down. You say it is a photocopy? A. If I may see
the original typed exhibit which is the subject of ---
Q. Just answer the questions for a minute. A. I cannot be
accurate about it.
MR. BECKMAN: He has asked for the typed original; the one he has
there is a photocopy.
MR. TEMPLE: The original was a photocopy.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: The one in the envelope was a photocopy
so we are told. A. Well, apparently a witness has stated
that I was seen typing something.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I am not going to debate it now. If
there is a query about it it can be resolved over the
adjournment. Just assume that is the document that was in
the envelope and it is a photocopy.
MR. BECKMAN: My Lord, I shall discuss the matter with Mr. Temple
and anything of this sort he can be spoken to despite the
fact he is giving evidence so we need not waste time
tomorrow. (To the witness): Are you in a position without
seeing the original - the question I posed to you before was
why you sent this to the High Commission via Catford
Couriers. Are you in a position to answer my question
without seeing the original? A. All I can say is at this
stage it would appear my recollection is firm and that I sent
a photocopy of the article which is in the unused material,
along with two letters and index. Whether this is one of the
letters I don't know. I don't remember it but there seems
to be a discrepancy in the evidence that has been given in
relation to this and that is why I wanted to see the letter.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You think now you sent the Amstrad
magazine copy; is that right? A. Yes, your Lordship.
Q. And perhaps this letter? A. It is possible but it doesn't
tie up.
Q. Just wait a minute - and perhaps another letter? A. Yes,
your Lordship.
Q. However, you do not remember sending what we call the demand
document. That is what you say now? A. The set of 14
pages would have been in there as well, I don't deny that.
I am just denying - not even denying - I am saying there is
some confusion made over what I remember I put in the
envelope and that is all I can say. I am not making any
other suggestion.
MR. BECKMAN: Tell me if I recapitulate this correctly: what you
are saying is you do not deny sending the demand letter via
the courier but that you have some recollection that that had
one copy of an article out of the Amstrad magazine? A. It
is certainly - that would have been - that was the most
important aspect of it for me to have sent that article with
it because the whole point was it was not a demand. The
whole point of this was to show that it was not real, to
defuse the situation.
Q. So your recollection is that you either sent the article out
of the magazine with the demand document or you intended to?
A. I certainly photocopied it on the same occasion when all
this other stuff was supposed to have happened.
Q. Is the answer to my question - only if you think it is right,
is the answer to my question yes? A. Yes, that is why I
was photocopying it.
Q. In that case, can you tell us what the article was about?
A. Yes, it was - that issue of the Amstrad was the April
issue and it was an April Fool's joke article by the
editorial staff about Alan Sugar's venture into producing
rocket fuel out of sugar.
Q. Is that pun intended? A. That was the whole point of the
article. It was - that was the point of the joke.
Q. Whether you sent it or did not send it, in fact or fantasy,
what, can you recall, was the purpose of sending with the
demand document an April Fool's article about making rocket
fuel out of sugar? A. If you combine that April Fool's
joke with the Nemo thing you end up with flying pigs.
Q. Flying pigs via sugar? A. If Amstrad were producing rockets
out of fictitious sugar I could add fictitious pigs.
Combining the two I could produce flying pigs, which is
what - I felt the whole impact of the thing was just complete
nonsense. I just - these words "(inaudible) gammy" is English
word for leg pull. "Pigs" has many allusions. To me it
means also double agents.
Q. Gammy is not a leg pull, it is a leg pull if (inaudible).
A. There is a book called Dictionary of Slang which I got it
from.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Do not worry about that for the moment.
You were trying to indicate to him that it was complete
nonsense; that is what you said? A. Exactly, your Lordship.
MR. BECKMAN: What was the introduction of the word "gammy" put
there as far as you are now recalling? A. That I used the
word "gammy"?
Q. Yes. A. It is like something that is not right, like a
gammy leg. There is also a northern word "gammy" which
means leg pull.
Q. So assuming that that did not arrive at the High Commission,
you intended it to, this article, or you think you intended
to? A. I may even have delivered it there myself
personally; I could well have done.
Q. When? A. On that day.
Q. With the copy of the demand document? A. Well, it would
have been whatever I intended at the time but as I say, I
cannot remember exactly what I put in these envelopes. I put
something other than been produced.
Q. It went there by Catford Couriers? A. Yes, I know, but I
mean, I also have a recollection of having delivered it there
myself. This is what I meant before when I said I have more
than one recollection of going to the Embassy on that
particular occasion. I don't know whether I went there
during the course of that day personally. Anyway, you know
I didn't disappear from the face of the earth while this was
going on. I may well have gone there and I am not sure which
way round things took place.
Q. Back to square 1, what was the point of sending this document
to the High Commission? A. Simply to defuse the situation.
I understood that the British Government, for whatever
reasons of their own, had tried to persuade the Cypriots this
was serious and had offered to take over the entire
investigation. At that time there was a whole group of
Anti-terrorist Squad officers in Cyprus. My reasoning was to
give them more clues and the penny would drop. They had
given me that opportunity by asking me to send a copy.
Q. Did your mental state at that time remain static? By that I
mean this: did you always have the same fantasy or delusion
firmly or did that change from time to time? A. That
changed; they fused together; they separated out. It was in
a constant state of flux.
Q. We know there was a 'phone call by Digsby on 9th April. Do
you recall that telephone call? A. Who was it made to may
I ask? As I say, I don't remember dates.
Q. To the Presidential Palace. Can I put it this way: so far
as any of the 'phone calls that have been referred to here,
those we have seen transcripts of, you do not deny making
them? A. No.
Q. So far as these transcripts are concerned, you may rest
assured - do you know, though the prosecution have produced
a precis, any addition that is required by the defence in the
transcripts may be handed in at any time? You know that has
been done by Mr. Hamblin? A. Yes.
Q. We know that a number of telephone calls were made to the
Presidential Palace between 10th and 26th April in the names
of Digsby and Charalambous [sic]. Do you recall making those
calls or not? A. I don't recall them but I accept that - I
mean, I do recall one of those calls. I was actually with
someone else at the time and all the others follow the same
pattern so I do not dispute that at all. I do recall other
calls, especially some special calls that were made with a
(inaudible) contraption, and in fact all these telephone
calls I made tape recordings of everything as I was going
along and I do remember playing these back on a number of
occasions. They were telephone calls that appeared to come
from a young girl, a little girl.
Q. These were calls where you were pretending to be a little
girl? A. I was using a voice box which was tuned to the
Shirley Temple end of the thing and it must have sounded ---
Q. Shirley Temple before she became Shirley Temple Black?
A. Exactly. It was a very young girl and I made a note of
it at the time and it is in the exhibits. At least some of
these were received by Inspector (inaudible)[sic] because he gave
me the name and I made a note of it at the time.
Q. In addition to these calls, do you recall that in fact the
person talking to you on the nice little girl calls - when
you were other persons do you recall a person conducting
several discussions with you becoming Mr. Frixos Nicolaides,
or pretending to be? A. Yes.
Q. We now know the man pretending to be Frixos was Mr. Andreas
Demetriades. A. Yes.
Q. We get this situation with the discussions, that Demetriades
(call him Nicolaides, whichever name) thought you were
offering some form of assistance; do you follow? A. Yes.
Q. Then we can relate that to a later telephone call. Who were
you when you were offering this assistance is the first
question? A. Whoever I said I was.
Q. What assistance were you offering? A. Whatever I
thought - whatever I said at the time was what I was
offering. There were all sorts of things; I said so many
things and they are all recorded in those transcripts, apart
from a few bits and pieces which have been edited out.
Q. What assistance were you going to give? A. Whatever I
said on these tapes is what I intended for them to understand
that I was offering to do.
Q. How does that relate to your sending off the April Fool's
Day Alan Sugar joke article; do you follow? A. Yes, I do
follow that. The point is one has disassociation of - once
that was over and once Digsby was out of the way, new
delusions were able to take over and I was able to carry on
with role guises regardless of what I believed in other
guises. So I was able to do things which were totally
contradictory, that do not make any logical sense and have
any association with each other, but they split off and one
went that way, one went that way and I had no means of
indicating between the two, saying "Look, this is ridiculous,
this is absurd".
I remember at one point I offered to transfer half a
million dollars to the Cypriot Government. On another
occasion I promised them $100 million profits by investing in
a venture of mine. On yet another occasion I told them I
intended to eradicate the rats and mice in the third World
using snakes and fleas, and I told other people these things.
There are mention of these rats, snakes and fleas in the
depositions. I even told one of my solicitors I was dealing
with, I gave full information how I had this clinic in
Switzerland breeding snakes and fleas.
Q. Is there such a clinic in Switzerland? A. Absolutely no,
but even my solicitor, whom I have known for many years,
actually accepted this. In fact, Dr. Nicholas Vyse [sic], the
man I was supposed to go for treatment, he ended up signing
(inaudible) and our intention was to turn seawater into gold,
or extract gold from seawater as it were, and he actually
took this seriously and it is complete nonsense; it cannot be
done profitably. If it were everybody on earth would be
multi millionaires, but I managed to persuade him. This is
how convincing I was because I genuinely believed in all
these delusions that I had.
Q. There came a stage when you went to the High Commission and
spoke to them about a passport in the name of Cambanellos [sic]; do
you remember? A. Yes.
Q. What were you doing then? A. At that point I had to get
back to Cyprus. I had to go and see the President; I had to
hold a press conference in Cyprus. I had plans to take a
number of items with me and I hired a young lady who would
assist me in the promotional aspect of it and I needed a
passport. I couldn't travel under my own ---
Q. What were you going to do in Cyprus? A. I was expecting to
see the President.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: What was the date; can you help me on
that?
MR. BECKMAN: Can you put a date on it? A. This is the date of
the (inaudible) the 14th.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: We know that date, that is 14th May.
MR. BECKMAN: What actually were you going to do in Cyprus?
A. As I said, I had this idea to make $100 million profit; I
was going to introduce them or get Nemo on the 'phone for
them. I was going to ---
Q. Can you speak up a little? A. I believe I told them I was
the only person that could get Nemo on the telephone for them
and that they would make him a friend. I believed that I
could actually unify the Island. I had very expansive ideas
at this stage and I did go into some great details, and I
also told him I would be in a position to find the PIGs and
hire a helicopter.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Just pause because that is to do with
this case. You said you had the ability to find the PIGs,
did you? A. Yes, your Lordship. I didn't say - I don't
think I ever actually said that in so many words. I have not
seen it actually as a statement; this is just the general
impression that one gathers from a multitude of
conversations.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I just wanted to get down what you said.
MR. BECKMAN: Tell us, and leave aside other fantasies and
delusions for the moment, what did you believe that you could
do in relation to the PIGs? A. Well, obviously, if
something is buried in the ground there are various ways of
finding them and I had all sorts of ideas like hiring a
helicopter, getting infra-red cameras, a proton magnatometer [sic]
and general things like that, mine detectors.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: This was as Digsby? A. No, your
Lordship, I believe that I was myself.
MR. BECKMAN: This must be Cambanellos [sic]. A. You are quite
right, this was Cambanellos [sic] by this time.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You were calling yourself Cambanella?
A. Yes, in fact in Cyprus I am known ---
Q. All right. A proton magnatometer [sic]; anything else? A. Yes,
I believe we arranged they would allow me access to a
helicopter and we would be able to fly around looking for
these things, and also I was - I gave them some information
about looking for botanical signs, clues such as poppies
growing on disturbed soil which would indicate where they had
been buried. I am just repeating what I ---
MR. BECKMAN: You were always in fact the same person, albeit
using different names. That is right as a fact. What I
want to ask you is this - what this case is about - in your
mind when you were speaking as Cambanellos [sic], were you in your
mind Cambanellos [sic] or someone else? A. This is a very
difficult thing to answer because, you know, I have
experienced this thing and I can explain it to you if you
would like to hear how it works, but had I not experienced it
I think it would be impossible for anyone to describe this
multiplicity, this multi faceted - I don't think one can
have.
Q. When you were going to help find things, who were you?
A. Throughout that whole period, Mr. Beckman, I was never
me. I was the result of a drug-induced psychosis that had
scrambled my mind to a point where I was no longer in control
of it.
Q. When you were offering to help find the PIGs, who was your
mind telling you you were? A. Whoever I said I was at the
time, and apparently I gave the name Cambanellos [sic] and the name
Cambanella [sic]. Now, I know when I introduced myself as
Cambanella originally, I then made sure on the telephone
conversation - I asked Mr. Nicolaides to make sure that it
was understood that Cambanella was a false name. In fact I
am Cambanella and I have the right to use the name Cambanella
and people would know who I am in Cyprus as Cambanella. I
actually told them it was a false name, so it is difficult
to say I actually knew who I was when I was myself.
Q. That was apparent from the tape, telling the High
Commissioner that you were in fact Cambanellos [sic]; in fact
Cambanella [sic] was a false name in a sense. A. This part
appears during the telephone conversation with Mr. Nicolaides
or Andreas Demetriades as he is.
Q. That can be extracted at any time. A. But also it was
apparent that the High Commissioner, he certainly knew
Cambanellos [sic]. I was not purporting to be Cambanellos [sic] at that
precise moment in time. As I had already given my name as
Koupparis and it was clear the information I had given was
being picked out of a hat, I changed the date of birth
several times, gave several different births which we agreed
between the two of us. Certainly there was no - at no time
did I think that he thought that I was Cambanella. I think
it was agreed I am Koupparis using the name Cambanalla [sic].
Q. Who were you when you went to the High Commissioner? I do
not mean you were not Panos Koupparis; who were you as you
were going along there? A. Cambanella is my name,
Cambanella.
MR. BECKMAN: I think that would be a sensible moment because I
suspect, because of the unusual nature, this can be fairly
tiring for anyone to listen to ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Yes, it is. We will finish on that.
(To the witness): "Not Mr. Koupparis, I was Cambanella as I
am going to the High Commission on 14th May"? A. I think
I said, "I am Cambanalla [sic]".
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: In so far as you need to see him about
the document, I know you and the solicitor will use the
utmost discretion.
MR. BECKMAN: Nothing will be done without the agreement of
Mr. Temple.
(The trial was adjourned until the following day)
Volume VIII, Pages 1-14, Friday 23rd June, 1989
(In the presence of the jury)
PANOS SYMEON KOUPPARIS: Recalled
Further examined by Mr. Beckman
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I am going to ask you to please speak
more slowly because it is very difficult for me. I have to
try and make my own note to remind the jury of some of your
evidence later, and inevitably a lot of it goes over the top
of my head. That may be happening in some instances with the
jury. A. Yes.
MR. BECKMAN: Mr. Koupparis, overnight I understand you produced
the schedule. A. Yes.
Q. Is this the schedule (indicating)? A. Yes, that is right.
Q. That is divided up in different ways. Perhaps you had better
explain it. First of all, you have - as soon as this is
dealt with I will have copies made - you have first of all a
heading, "Dr. Sophocleous", and then you have seven different
lists of drugs. What exactly does that represent? A. This
represents the seven different courses of treatment that he
gave me and each is a list of the individual drugs.
Q. So we have first of a group of three; two or three months,
stopped after adverse reaction. You have told us about that.
A. Yes.
Q. That is Parstelin; you told us about that yesterday. A. Yes.
Q. Then we have one other of 20 injections, ten to twelve days;
then we have a large list, one or two months, January 1986
onwards and then Stelazine injection. A. These last two
items were not sequential; the Stelazine injection took place
during the treatment headed "Melleril".
Q. In other words, the last two were in addition to what you
were having before? A. The very last one may be ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I think it would be better if you did it
when we have copies.
MR. BECKMAN: Certainly, my Lord.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I think that would be more sensible.
In that context, Mr. Koupparis, what did you understand that
he was treating you for? Was it for depression? A. He
never actually said what he thought was wrong with me.
Q. No, but you went to him because you had something wrong with
you, you thought, and that was really your depression, was
it, and your waking up business? A. Yes, except it was
not actually a depression, your Lordship, it was a withdrawal
reaction to the sleeping pills I had been taking the previous
three years.
MR. BECKMAN: I wonder if I might possibly use the court staff
for the purpose because my solicitor is already photocopying.
(To the witness): Mr. Koupparis, before I go on to what is
effectively your conclusions in relation to what occurred,
because all the facts here are agreed as we discussed
yesterday --- A. There is one small point I would like to
clarify as a result of his Lordship's comment just before
we adjourned yesterday. I was asked if I sent the demand
document. I have always maintained there was never a demand
intended in this document, so that when I say, "Yes, these
documents were sent", I am not saying that I was making a
demand. I would like to make that clear. I was doing it for
other reasons but not for the purpose of obtaining money by
menaces.
Q. Page 196 of the jury bundle. Mr. Koupparis, I do not speak
Greek but it would look like this might be something in the
nature of a prescription. A. Yes.
Q. Is this right; is it a prescription? A. Yes, it is. It is
a certificate from a pharmacist confirming a prescription.
Q. Why has it got your photograph on it? A. Well, bizarre
as it may sound now, at the time I thought this was a Cypriot
driving licence and I tried to hire a car with it, and this
photograph was taken for my international driving licence. I
stuck it on when I was at one of the hotels.
Q. Do you recall which hotel it was? A. I was at the Inter
Continental.
Q. Do you recall which car company you tried to use it with?
A. Yes, it was Hertz Rent a Car, a young lady called Carol
Williams.
Q. I want to go now from that specific to, as it were, just
cover the position because as we understand it there is no
fact of consequence in issue and it had covered the ground
already, your recollection of the events. How would you - I
have copies here now, I will distribute them. Would you
take the original (handed to the witness). (Copies handed to
the Court and jury)
Mr. Koupparis, let us achieve that which has been
suggested to you, and that is to be succinct and short. Let
us see if we can do it at the same time as speaking up.
Perhaps in your own words could you address the jury and
explain to them what these documents portray, starting with
the one which I hope is at the top, headed Dr. Sophocleous".
A. These are the treatments that Dr. Sophocleous prescribed
to me at various times while I was seeing him. Some of them
are quite short; this one, No. 7 at the bottom, was only for
two weeks and it was close to the beginning of the treatment.
The very first treatment was No. 1 and that was Parstelin and
Lexotanil and he also prescribed Nitemol [sic] which is a sleeping
pill, but that was changed shortly afterwards to Normazine [sic].
There was a break of a few months in my treatment as I
collapsed as a result of something that reacted with
Parstelin, and in fact it was quite serious and I almost died
as a result of that.
My wife persuaded me to go back and see him about two
months, I suppose, after that, and he prescribed (inaudible)
anti-depressant. This is No. 2. It is a French drug called
Surrector [sic], I remember, a tranquilliser and hypnotic. It was
probably (inaudible) but that was the general pattern.
After that he announced that he had this American
treatment and it would speed things up if I took this and it
involved ten or twelve injections, and I was to report at the
clinic every day in the morning, not to eat anything
beforehand and he would give me one of these injections. I
would lie down about three quarters of an hour - he would
time the period - and I was told not to move at all. After
that my heart started beating, I started flushing hot and
cold, and he would take me out to the little kitchen he had
in the surgery and I would be given sandwiches (inaudible).
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Mr. Beckman, I am sure you understand
that you must curb this.
MR. BECKMAN: I was about to do that, my Lord. (To the witness):
Mr. Koupparis, would you be so kind as to keep it short if
you could. Give us the drugs that were taken at the given
times; do not go on as to who said what, when you were seen
and so on. We are having an expert who will tell us the
effect of the drugs and if Mr. Temple wants to know anything
nothing will stop him asking. If you would be kind enough to
tell us what drugs and what this document means when you were
given the drugs and injections --- A. Okay. With the
injections I had (inaudible). Afterwards he prescribed
Melleril, Largactil and Normazine [sic]. That continued two or
three months or so. Then without explanation he changed the
treatment to Parstelin, Stelazine (which was subsequently
dropped after about two months), Valium and I had (inaudible)
Lexotanil or Valium, Largactil and (inaudible). During
the period I took the Melleril treatment I had two or three
one-off Stelazine injections and the last one Panastil [sic].
This is probably about the time of the second treatment.
MR. BECKMAN: If you would like to turn to the next page, you
will see it is headed "Dr. Evdokas".
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Can you date this Dr. Evdokas, roughly?
A. Yes, it was the summer of 1986, late summer.
MR. BECKMAN: Would you do the same operation with this one?
A. Dr. Evdokas' initial treatment was to stop all the drugs
for two weeks. Thereafter he prescribed Ludiomil and then a
few days later Scophrinol [sic](?) was added, Largactil (inaudible)
and Halcion perhaps. After two or three months the
prescription was changed by dropping Largactil and
(inaudible) and adding Vivalan and Zanox [sic]. Then about a
month or so, on seeing him I asked if I could take Valium
again - I already had it on prescription - and he agreed.
Q. Turn over to the next page; what exactly is this? A. I
have given a list of the actual drugs and in the sort of
grouping that they occurred in for each doctor.
Q. This in a sense represents what had gone before? A. Yes,
they are just a list of drugs with no indication of what
treatment they were part of.
Q. Let me deal, as it were, with your feelings about the matter
as to what occurred. Are you in a position to - generally
speaking, how would you describe your ability to recall
events during the material period, being, as it were, before
you left Cyprus and when you arrived in London, at the time
leading up to your arrest? A. Bearing in mind it has been
over two years since all this has happened and at the best of
times memory would not be perfect, but for me it is like
similar to waking up from a nightmare. Some parts you
remember eventually; other parts there is no sign of them.
Q. Are you in a position to differentiate today between that you
discovered by reading the prosecution papers and that in fact
you did remember? A. In some cases, because it has been
corroborated by other witnesses, the recollection has become
firmer in my mind. In other cases it is still - the only way
I can describe it is flexible. I have more memories than
there were actually events.
Q. It would be right, I think you told us the earlier period you
had was after all what you would call the depression or
lethargy, going right back to 1983? A. Yes, as a result of
stopping the sleeping pills I went into a period of unusual
symptoms, symptoms I had never experienced before. They were
physical symptoms and general mood symptoms.
Q. For what it is worth, in due course we will have expert
advice, but what do you attribute this particular phenomenon
as far as you are concerned? A. Speaking as of now, having
read the reports and so on, it seems fairly obvious to me
that the drug treatment that I was given was totally
inappropriate right from the very beginning and that instead
of treating me with these symptoms of withdrawing drugs
completely and allowing me to as it were sweat it out, the
fact I was given additional drugs the symptoms got worse. I
had to be given more drugs and the thing escalated to the
point where I became hopelessly addicted and vulnerable to a
psychosis.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Vulnerable to what? A. A psychosis.
MR. BECKMAN: Those behind me with their young ears are having
difficulty in hearing; can you speak up. You told us
yesterday about what I would describe as bizarre beliefs and
beliefs in your varying identities; you remember that? Is
that something that is related to the drug situation or is
that something separate? A. Well, all the stacks of drugs
I was taking at the time that I was arrested, four of them
can induce a drug induced schizophrenic psychosis, which is
when the mind fractures into lots of different parts and
people do the most extraordinary things. One develops
delusions of grandeur and I can see quite ---
Q. Could you be kind enough not to tell us what you have read
from experts' reports. A. It is difficlt [sic] to ignore it.
Q. What I want is how you personally felt or what you attributed
it to. A. I was not aware this was going on at the time;
I couldn't tell.
Q. Are you in a position - to take an example of this, you
were - for whatever reason, the jury must decide, you played
the part of Commander Nemo. Are you in a position to tell
us what you thought you were doing when you were Commander
Nemo? A. Yes, to a certain extent I think Nemo - would
you like me to briefly explain?
Q. Yes could you, using the word "briefly" being uppermost in
all our minds. A. Well, as a result of the delusions that
I had I thought that it was imperative that I play a sort of
intelligence test to establish whether the Government of
Cyprus were capable of handling a Twentieth Century
situation. I didn't think they would. I didn't think their
politicians were suitable for the sort of grandiose world
that I had in mind and I was hoping to prove to the people of
Cyprus that I would become one who would become president. I
should be president; it sounds ridiculous but it made perfect
sense at the time.
Q. When you were Digsby who did you see yourself as? What were
you trying to do in so far as you can recall? A. Digsby
was - a very strange relationship with Digsby. Whilst the
name was a total fabrication in my imagination, Digsby was
actually based on a very close friend of mine, someone I
worked with for a number of years, and in some way I adopted
his identity profile and I became a personification of the
British side of me if you like. It is difficult to explain;
it was my British identity expressing itself there. An old
friend of mine (inaudible). My friend had diplomatic
connections with Cyprus many years ago.
Q. What about when you were Wilkins? A. Digsby always
maintained the name Digsby was a code name and Wilkins was
Digsby's real name so ---
Q. That I think is in a telephone call, part of a telephone
call, and by all means refer to that if you wish. In part
of one of them there is a reference, if my memory serves me
right, when you in fact say to somebody, "Digsby is a code
name", and he says "Is it?", or something like that.
A. That is right.
Q. What about Cambanellos [sic]? We know that is originally a family
name. A. Cambanella [sic] again is a personification of the
Cypriot side of me. I have dual nationality in the sense I
qualify for a Cypriot passport and I am technically a citizen
as I have lived there sufficiently to qualify, but there is a
Cypriot side of me and somehow it coalesced and separated out
from the other side and it became a separate identity.
Q. You actually used the name Koupparis when you arrived at a
telephone call to someone. We have got it on one of the
tapes. Do you recall how that came about, or not? A. I
was as surprised as anyone else but I didn't recall that
conversation at all. When we finally obtained the
transcripts I noticed I used the name Koupparis. You asked
me yesterday if these delusions were fluctuating and my
answer is yes, they were fluctuating and the period was
controlled by the events which - controlled by what was
happening around me.
Q. We have heard from Kindersley and Cripps and they told us
what happened in terms of ideas. Who did you see yourself
as being when you were with them? A. Well, they in a sense
triggered Nemo into existence by the very first comment that
they made and I was stuck with that identity with them. I
was mesmerised by a computer screen in a shop. I must have
been in a trance or something because they came up behind me
and said, "You will get radion [sic] poisoning if you look at that
thing", and it precipitated Nemo.
Q. Tell us this: one of the names used when you saw them was
Pan. Is that a diminutive for Panos? A. Yes, it is.
Q. Any other meaning or just that? A. Well, when I was involved
in this writing there are mentions of the pirate and of
course Peter Pan and the pirate and there was also - there
are a lot of allusions which perhaps, because the exhibits
are not here, will not mean anything, but there was a trend
going through that because I think maybe I will write a story
on my computer on the lines J. M. Barrie had written. I was
looking for a subject, either fiction, a thriller, spy story
or espionage or even a children's story, so I (inaudible) and
ended up in a fantasy world.
Q. You recall I went through the various documents and found a
number in London? A. Yes, the ones found where?
Q. Found in London. A. Yes.
Q. You have got all sorts of things there. What were they; for
example, the Arab and the boat? A. They were found in
Cyprus.
Q. What was that anyway? A. That was a story plot as it were,
and it was based in fact on an event which happened some few
months earlier when I was trying to fictionalise it. In some
modern best-selling novels the authors tend to take a real
event and incorporate them into novels to give reality, and
that is what I was trying to do. There was indeed an Arab
as well as a boat which was found loaded with video tapes and
whisky.
Q. What were the other documents found in London, the roadblocks
and getaway cars and all these things which should be ---
A. I don't think any of that was actually found in London.
What were found were things like parking clamps which were
involved with the letter I wrote to Sir Alfred [sic] Melville.
Q. The plots generally are found in Cyprus? A. Yes, I mean,
I was no longer aware that I was living a fantasy world all
the time. I came to London but it was - the foundation that
had precipitated these ideas were the writings the doctor had
suggested I amuse myself with while I was recovering from
Dr. Sophocleous' treatment.
MR. BECKMAN: I do not want to go into all of them but let us
take one as a possible example that we might hear about
later. Do you recall at the White House Hotel an incident
which involved a Mercedes?
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I did not hear that.
MR. BECKMAN: An incident which involved a Mercedes.
THE WITNESS: There were several Mercedes.
MR. BECKMAN: Miss Carol Williams I think. A. That was the
Inter Continental Hotel. I tried to hire a Mercedes from
Carol Williams at the Hertz desk.
Q. I want to cut matters short because that evidence comes best
from her and that is this: you yourself, did you wear any
clothes out of the ordinary when you were trying to hire the
Mercedes? A. I had a full chauffeur's uniform.
Q. Why did you wear a chauffeur's uniform? A. That is very
difficult for me to explain why I ended up going out and
buying this thing. Whether it was an impulse purchase or
indeed any other reason I don't know; perhaps Commander Nemo
needed a uniform. I cannot explain that but I did buy a
full chauffeur's uniform with cap and I was walking around
the hotel with it.
Q. Did you wear it on that occasion when you were attempting to
hire a Mercedes from Hertz? A. Yes.
Q. Why? A. Originally I was wearing a hat and glasses and the
other paraphernalia. It is when they refused me that I went
back to my room and I decided I was going to leave the hotel,
and I went downstairs and I made a diplomatic protest to the
staff and said they would be hearing from the Cypriot High
Commission - this was the Cypriot Government business. I was
not happy and I stormed out and I had my own hire car in
the forecourt.
Q. Did you storm out in your chauffeur's uniform? A. Yes.
Q. What identity did you have then? A. I don't know - Miller.
I was Ambrose Miller.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: You stayed in the name of Miller?
A. Yes, your Lordship I had actually ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Yes, we know about that.
MR. BECKMAN: You were Miller; the man who was hiring the car was
Miller, a chauffeur? A. I don't know. I cannot remember
what identity I thought I had at the time.
Q. You mentioned a moment ago - if I may go off at a tangent, it
may relate to matters later - you referred to impulse
shopping. Did you do much impulse shopping at that time?
A. Within a few days of arriving at the Inter
Continental ---
Q. Can you answer "Yes" or "No"? A. Yes.
Q. Had you done impulse shopping before? A. No, it is not
the sort of thing I do.
Q. In relation to the sort of things that you purchased, was
there much logic in it always? A. It is basically junk; it
was useless junk.
Q. Did you do this sort of impulse shopping before you had a
drug situation? A. No, never.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: Mr. Beckman, you did not quite finish -
it may have been on purpose - the visit to the High
Commission.
MR. BECKMAN: My Lord, as far as I am aware ---
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: There is no dispute?
MR. BECKMAN: In so far as I am aware no possible dispute
relevant to the issues we are trying.
MR. JUSTICE MACPHERSON: I simply wondered whether you stopped
there on purpose; obviously you did.
MR. BECKMAN: My Lord, no, there are no issues that I think are
of relevance to the case.
Index | Previous | Next