CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT

Wednesday, 5th October, 1988.

THE CLERK OF THE COURT: Put up Koupparis, please. For 
mention in the case of Koupparis.

MR. SPENS: I appear for the Crown, my learned friend Mr. 
Wilcken represents Panos Koupparis, and my learned friend 
Mr. Zeidman represents Mrs. Koupparis. I understand 
initially this case was listed at the request of the 
solicitors for Mrs. Koupparis.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Yes, I understand that.

MR. SPENS: May I just tell your Lordship the recent history 
of the case? Your Lordship may recall that, initially, this 
trial was due to begin today. About four weeks ago, the 
prosecution were informed by the defence for Mr. Koupparis 
that they had instructed a psychiatrist, Dr. Bowden, to 
examine the question of Mr. Koupparis' fitness to plead. The 
prosecution were informed that he was unfit to plead. In 
those circumstances the Crown instructed another 
psychiatrist, Dr. Robin, to make a report. That report is 
not in fact to hand yet but it is known that Dr. Robin's 
conclusion is that Mr. Koupparis is fit to be tried.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Would that not be an issue for the jury 
to decide?

MR. SPENS: My Lord, yes, because it is an issue that, even 
if it is not raised at the instance of the defence, it may 
be raised by the Crown or, indeed, by the court. Dr. Bowden, 
I understand, was not available to give evidence today, and 
indeed for a few days after today. Dr. Robin, instructed by 
the Crown, is going into hospital tomorrow for an operation 
of a serious nature, and the position with him is that he 
will not be fit to give evidence before the 1st December of 
this year. I mention that, although, of course, I am aware 
of the fact another psychiatrist could be instructed by the 
Crown.

The present position so far as the listing of the case is 
concerned is this: the case was taken out of the list, I 
believe, about a week ago and is in the fixing list for 
tomorrow when clerks for counsel possessed dates when the 
relevant witnesses, including psychiatrists, will attend. It 
seems that a sensible course, subject to what either of my 
learned friends would have to say, would be to aim at fixing 
a day, or two days, when the issue of fitness to plead could 
be tried as a preliminary issue for a jury.

THE DEFENDANT: Excuse me, your honour, may I have a word 
please?

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Yes, I will give you the opportunity of 
speaking in a minute or two because I have received a letter 
from you in which you have stated that you do not wish to be 
represented by your counsel. Is that right?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I wish to represent myself in this 
matter.

1


THE COMMON SERJEANT: Of course, you will appreciate that if 
you do, on this particular issue which the jury. will have 
to decide, the mere fact that you have discharged your 
counsel in a case of this sort will be adding to the weight 
to the suggestion that you are unfit to plead.

THE DEFENDANT: I do not claim to I am not fit to plead.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I know you do not.

THE DEFENDANT: And I believe that the crown's psychiatric 
report will show that I am perfectly fit to plead. The fact 
that Dr. Bowden has produced such a report is only a result 
that I had not known at the time what had happened to me, 
your honour. Therefore, he was not in a position to evaluate 
me properly. I am now fully aware of the facts and, in fact, 
it was the crown's psychiatrist that made me aware of of the 
facts. I have never suffered any form of mental illness in 
my life, your honour. What I suffered from was a drug 
reaction which is not a case of a mental illness, sir. 
Therefore I reject this motion.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The issue will have to be tried because 
I have got to satisfy myself you are fit to plead.

THE DEFENDANT: Sir, I believe that if I am allowed to 
conduct my own defence, I will be able to satisfy you 
myself, sir.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You have got to satisfy the jury, but I 
have got to satisfy myself at this stage before directing 
trial by jury. You will be able to speak on your own behalf 
as well as call any witnesses.

THE DEFENDANT: I expect to be tried for the charges which I 
am held for, not a matter of whether I am fit to plead.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Just leave that to me.

MR. SPENS: That is as far as I can take the matter for the 
moment.

MR. WILCKEN: As your Lordship knows, my learned friend Mr. 
Kalisher and myself were instructed in this matter. My Lord, 
we have had the opportunity of having a consultation with 
Mr. Koupparis on the 8th July, and before that I had had a 
conference with Mr. Kalisher on the 13th June, 1988. It had 
been hoped to have a further consultation before this matter 
appeared before your Lordship. That was not possible 
because, apparently, it was cancelled by the prison staff on 
the basis that there was insufficient staff to supervise 
such a consultation.

Be that as it may, within the course of the last few days, 
those who instruct me have indicated to me that Mr. 
Koupparis wishes to dispense with the services of both Mr. 
Kalisher and myself, but wishes to retain the services of 
Mr. Campion. I should tell your Lordship that if the 
services of counsel are dispensed with, it is very unlikely 
indeed that other counsel, if instructed, could absorb the 
amount of paperwork that has been generated in this case

2


within a reasonable time. I can tell your Lordship this, 
without disclosing anything further, that there are over a 
thousand pages of handwritten instructions that have 
emanated from the defendant one way or another. My Lord, we 
must, my learned friend Mr. Kalisher and myself, accept that 
discharge with such fortitude as we can muster, bearing in 
mind, as we both do, our duties to the court, but that is 
the choice of Mr. Koupparis, not of ours.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Is that choice irrevocable that you 
want to represent yourself in this matter?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, your honour, I do.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Have you thought about it?

THE DEFENDANT: I have thought about it. Under the 
circumstances, as the court seems to feel that an unfit to 
plead has to be decided, I wish to represent myself in that 
matter, your honour.

THE COMMON SERGEANT: You are perfectly entitled to do that. 
I would, in a case of this difficulty and complexity, advise 
you not to, but you need not take the advice I give you, and 
you are perfectly entitled to represent yourself.

THE DEFENDANT: The proceedings today have taken me 
completely by surprise. I was expecting to be produced in 
front of the court to answer -- you.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You expected to what?

THE DEFENDANT: I was expecting to be produced so that I 
could answer the charges against me, not a question of 
whether I am fit to plead or not. In fact, I would like to 
mention that I never instructed my solicitors to actually 
get a psychiatric report. What I wanted was a 
psychopharmacological report. The fact that the report is 
now against me is something that I dispute totally, but I 
wish to have the opportunity to present my case to a jury 
that ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You will have that opportunity.

THE DEFENDANT: I am innocent of the charges against me, your 
honour, not of the matter concerning fitness to plead.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You will have that opportunity but ----

THE DEFENDANT: As I understand it, two psychiatrists have to
 agree. I am able to call four psychiatrists who will
 question vehemently the report that my own defence has
 produced. I find myself fighting my own defence in this
 case.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You have a good solicitor, your 
solicitor will help you on this.

THE DEFENDANT: Towards that aim, may I request----- or 
disclosure a unrepresented defendant is entitled to.

3


THE COMMON SERJEANT: Of what?

THE DEFENDANT: All the prosecution evidence that is held 
that has not been served. The bulk of my defence is of the 
charges.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You have all that, have you not?

THE DEFENDANT: No, the Cypriot police have published in the 
newspapers in Cyprus photographs and long lists with all the 
items taken from my home. These hold the balance of my 
defence: I would like access to those. Some of those items 
have appeared in the bundle, the majority of them haven't. 
There are also six and a half hours of tape recorded 
conversations, your honour, which only a few minutes of them 
have appeared as transcripts, and because they are held in a 
different language, because of the regional dialects, I 
believe that I should have access to the original tapes so I 
can listen to them.

There is also computer evidence, your honour, on floppy 
disks: there are videotape evidences. There are objects 
found and displayed by the Cypriot police in the newspapers 
which have not appeared in the exhibit bundle. These I 
believe I am entitled to, your honour.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The prosecution will hear what you have 
to say and will hand over such papers they think right and 
proper. If there are any difficulties about it, you can 
always apply to the court. I do not encourage it because the 
issues seem to be fairly plain. You see, one thing that any 
judge who tries the case will try to keep this case within 
the proper limits. He is not going to allow evidence to 
wander far and wide.

THE DEFENDANT: My own defence would be very concise and very 
succinct. I believe that I can prove my case very quickly. I 
do not want to make a big issue of it at all. May I make an 
application for bail, your honour, so that I may prepare 
myself? I am under the most extraordinary stresses and 
strains being shipped around inside the prison system. I 
have been waiting almost for two years for justice, sir, and 
I believe that if the prosecution were to hand their report 
from their own psychiatrist, he would show quite clearly 
that I have a perfectly workable, feasible defence in this 
matter, and there is no reason why I should be held in 
custody.

MR. WILCKEN: Before your Lordship determines that issue, 
which, I would respectfully submit, is a slightly different 
issue to the one which I would wish to address myself to 
your Lordship about -- and I do not mean to interrupt Mr. 
Koupparis' flow, because obviously he wishes to make such an 
application -- but, my Lord, so far as my position and Mr. 
Kalisher's position is concerned, I would respectfully 
submit that that matter ought to be resolved as soon as 
possible.

My Lord, there is another matter that I think I should

4


bring to your Lordship's attention: I not only think I 
should, I am obliged to do so, because Mr. Campion asks me 
to do so. It is this: Mr. Campion, who is in court, has 
expressed his willingness to continue to act as Mr. 
Koupparis' legal adviser.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The court is very grateful for that. I 
can see the problems which might arise.

MR. WILCKEN: Indeed, he has also considerable experience in 
doing just that sort of thing when this situation, which 
happily does not arise too often, does arise, so he is 
alerted to his responsibilities, and is knowledgeable about 
these affairs. The only difficulty as far as he is concerned 
is this: my Lord, he earlier this year cancelled an 
important business meeting, serious business meetings, in 
the United States of America, in order to attend upon these 
matters that are now before your Lordship. My Lord, those 
matters now cannot be postponed any longer. Mr. Campion has 
indicated to me that he is going to the United States of 
America this Friday, 7th October, and will not return to the 
country until the 30th October.

My Lord, he has also indicated to me that his experience of 
taking such business trips abroad inevitably means that when 
he returns to his office, there is a backlog of work that he 
himself has to attend to in order to keep his finger on the 
pulse of his staff. That would take about a week. What I am 
in effect saying is that Mr. Campion would not be able to 
assist the court in any meaningful way until the 7th 
November.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Yes, at the very earliest.

MR. WILCKEN: Once the 7th December is reached, he would 
crave the indulgence of the court for him to take the 
occasional day away from court in order that he can attend 
to outstanding matters.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I agree entirely. He cannot be expected 
to be at court every day.

MR. WILCKEN: He runs an extremely busy practice and has 
extremely able staff, but nonetheless there are matters that 
require his personal attention, obviously.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You understand that, do you not, Mr. 
Koupparis, that if Mr. Campion does continue as your 
solicitor, he will not be able to be in court every day. He 
would be represented by someone, no doubt, but he will not 
be in court every day himself.

THE DEFENDANT: I understand, your honour. It is really to 
help me prepare the case.

MR. WILCKEN: I feel I ought to bring, in Mr. Campion's point 
of view, these matters to your Lordship's attention. In my 
submission, Mr. Campion's commitments abroad are such that 
he simply cannot attend.

5


THE COMMON SERJEANT: That I understand. I also understand 
that by releasing you or discharging you and your-learned 
leader from the case, a much heavier burden of 
responsibility is imposed upon a solicitor, and a solicitor 
may not wish to undertake that burden. It is very much to 
Mr. Campion's credit if he will do so, and the court is 
appreciative of that. The court will obviously not require 
his attendance every day in court. We will leave it to his 
discretion.

MR. WILCKEN: Before I finally withdraw, and instructions are 
finally withdrawn from me, I know Mr. Koupparis is extremely 
concerned that there are matters -- might I deal with it in 
this way? Firstly, Dr. Bowden, the psychiatrist, is abroad 
at the moment. I know the court has been furnished with a 
report from him, as he is duty bound so to do, and we have 
not had sight of Dr. Robin's report. Now, I do not know when 
Dr. Bowden is returning to this country, and I do not know 
when we might see a sight of Dr. Robin's report -- not "we", 
when I say "we", I mean Mr. Campion -- but those are matters 
clearly that the defendant must have in his possession 
before any question arises as to how your Lordship proposes 
to conduct the case eventually.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: If the case is contested, and contested 
by Mr. Koupparis, as I must assume it will, it will take 
several weeks -- it must do.

MR. WILCKEN: The next matter I feel bound to bring to your 
Lordship's attention is a matter which Mr. Koupparis has 
touched upon. He has indicated to those whom he instructs 
that the prosecution do have in their possession matters, 
exhibits, tape recordings, and the like, which have not been 
disclosed to him. Certainly I have seen no transcript as 
far as my recollection goes, and the papers are voluminous 
-- no full transcript of certainly anything like six and a 
half hours of tapes. I say that from my own knowledge. So, 
if there are six and a half hours of tape record ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Interviews with him?

MR. WILCKEN: No, my Lord, not interviews with him, 
allegations, tape recordings played made of conversations 
said to be between Mr. Koupparis and representatives of the 
Cyprus Government which form the basis of the charges which 
he faces. Clearly, he would be entitled on any view to those 
transcripts. We, as is former legal advisers, and Mr. 
Campion as his present legal adviser, certainly share an air 
of disquiet that such documents are not revealed, or have 
not been produced, and equally certainly, he is, I would 
have thought, entitled to hear them and have a transcript.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Subject to anything Mr. Spens has to 
say, I would agree with that.

MR. WILCKEN: Having said that, it is right to say that the 
defendant has been in custody for a considerable period of 
time on these matters, and further incarceration -- there 
will come a time, of course, that even if he were to be 
found guilty, the period of time spent in custody is going

6


to exceed any period of time the court might be minded to 
impose upon him in the event.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I would have thought not.

MR. WILCKEN: It depends how long he is in custody for, my 
Lord.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You have seen the concluding paragraph, 
have you not, of Dr. Bowden's report?

MR. WILCKEN: My Lord, I have. I have Dr. Bowden's report in 
front of me.

MR. ZEIDMAN: My Lord, may I permitted to say a brief word? 
We asked for this matter to be listed so that everything can 
be sorted out. I do not want to exacerbate the difficulties 
of others, especially in circumstances where I have an easy 
client and a simple issue in the trial. I am concerned, 
though, about the delay. The committal was on the 25th 
November, 1987. I accept one has got to keep a sense of 
proportion, and I acknowledge that if there is to be an 
issue as to fitness to plead for Mr. Koupparis -- it may be 
that there will have to be that issue -- then that obviously 
must precede the substantive trial. Of course, it does touch 
upon the very issue in my defence which, as I see your 
Lordship knows from the previous practice direction, is that 
Mrs. Koupparis was not alerted to any suspicious 
circumstances because, if I may use a vernacular, she 
thought his activities were par for the course when dealing 
with this man. She had no knowledge of any serious threat. 
Having said that, it does seem, if I may say so, that 
realistically the matter cannot be resolved before the 7th 
November because Mr. Campion will not be back, and your 
Lordship appreciates it will be a short issue if he has some 
advice.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Very short.

MR. ZEIDMAN: May I raise the question as to the prosecution 
psychiatrist? We are told that he is unwell. He will not be 
fit again on the 1st December. One appreciates the 
importance of not wasting public money on having too many 
reports, but on the other hand ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I think this is a case where another 
psychiatrist ought to be instructed. If he is not going to 
be ready until the 1st December, I think the prosecution 
ought to get somebody else. If there is not, and if he 
agrees with Dr. Robin, it would be very advisable to call a 
third, because otherwise you have to balance one way or the 
other.

MR. ZEIDMAN: I was going to submit precisely that, that 
ironically it might be advantageous in in any event. May I 
urge your Lordship to say that the matter should be listed 
for the 7th November? Of course, I will not be a party to 
those proceedings, but I would like to attend.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You have the right to attend, and I 
shall order that it would be perfectly proper for you to 
attend in

7


the light of your responsibilities and the complications of 
this case, yes.

MR. ZEIDMAN: That is all I wish to say. Thank you very much.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Mr. Spens, with a date as close to the 
7th November as possible, bear in mind that someone has to 
interview Mr. Koupparis, unless there are some doctors who 
have not given reports who have already acquaintance with 
him? I know not.

MR. SPENS: I do not believe that there are.

THE DEFENDANT: There are doctors who have seen me and who 
are in a position to affirm ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Perhaps the names of those doctors, if 
they are consultants, can be passed to the prosecution. I am 
sure Mr. Campion can find that out from you.

MR. SPENS: I hear what your Lordship says about instructing 
another psychiatrist and also what your Lordship says should 
that psychiatrist disagree with Dr. Bowden, that a third 
psychiatrist be instructed in those matters.

My Lord, I think there is only one other matter that arises 
out of what was said by my learned friend, Mr. Wilcken. The 
defence were written to, as I recall, at the end of August. 
In fact, I have been given a letter. The defence were 
written to on the 20th July of 1988 and were informed that 
the Crown did not consider that the preparation of 
transcripts could be justified in this case, but having 
regard to the following facts, it was going to take three 
months to transcribe the tape recordings. The cost would be 
substantial, and in any event they appear to have very 
limited evidential value. At the moment, the content of 
those conversations is summarized in witness statements, and 
in that letter the Crown said that they proposed to rely at 
the trial upon the summaries that were contained in the 
witness statements already served upon the defence. The 
letter ended with these words: "Please confirm within 28 
days whether such summaries are agreed by, or on behalf of, 
your client." Really that is where the matter has lain up 
until today.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Were you aware of that, Mr. Wilcken?

MR. WILCKEN: Yes, I was aware of it. It is not for me to 
disclose what takes place in a consultation. One might read 
into that that it is a reason perhaps for Mr. Kalisher's and 
my services being disposed of ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: It therefore seems that no criticism 
can be laid against the Crown Prosecution Service.

MR. WILCKEN: I did not lay any criticism against the crown 
Prosecution Service. All I was doing was drawing your 
Lordship's attention to matters which Mr. Koupparis feels 
affect the conduct of his case.

8


THE COMMON SERJEANT: I take your point there. You can hear 
what is going on, can you not, Mr. Koupparis?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The prosecution take the view there 
will be a delay of three months in transcribing these 
transcripts, and it would be very expensive. Is it possible 
to have a copy of the tape? Will that be cheaper without a 
transcript?

MR. SPENS: I am certain that would be possible. The answer 
to that is, yes, copies can be made. Half of them are in 
Greek but that should not present any difficulty to the 
defendant.

MR. WILCKEN: Might I just rise and trespass upon your 
Lordship's patience a little further because Mr. Campion 
rightly reminds me of something I feel sure that Mr. 
Koupparis would wish to bring to your Lordship's attention, 
and it is this: that he has made requests through the 
governor of Pentonville Prison, where he is presently being 
held, that he be provided with the means for listening to 
such tape recordings, and, indeed, to be provided with a 
computer which is compatible with certain floppy disks which 
he feels, again, are relevant to his defence which are in 
the possession of the prosecution.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: There is no point in providing tapes if 
the defendant cannot understand them or hear them.

MR. WILCKEN: Unless there is the means available of him 
listening to them, there is no point in the Crown providing 
the copy tapes. I appreciate that your Lordship probably, 
has limited jurisdiction over how the prison governor runs 
his prison -- and I am not saying it in any event to pre-
empt the decision your Lordship may make regarding bail -- 
but in the event of Mr. Koupparis' application for bail 
being unsuccessful, it is absolutely vital, from his point 
of view, and indeed from Mr. Campion's point of view, I 
would submit, that Mr. Koupparis has the means to listen to 
those tapes.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Yes, there can be no doubt about that 
at all. I express the view that those facilities ought to, 
be made available in prison, perhaps by his instructing 
solicitor, I know not. I do not know how easy it would be, 
but certainly it will obstruct the course of this case and 
be extremely expensive in time because it will entail delay 
if that is not done, and I shall be gravely disturbed.

MR. WILCKEN: I am sure a letter from the court administrator 
to that effect will have the desired effect upon the 
governor of Pentonville.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I am told, on the basis that this 
preliminary issue will only take about a day, which is 
expected, no more, that the 10th November would be an 
appropriate date. This issue will be tried on the 10th 
November. It will not be the full trial Mr. Koupparis. It 
will only take a day, and I am going to consider now, having

9


fixed that date, your application for bail..

THE DEFENDANT: Would that be the issue of fitness to plead 
that you are referring to on the 10th?

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Yes, certainly, you will be here, 
because the issue will be whether or not you are fit to 
plead to the indictment.

THE DEFENDANT: If Doctor Robin's report were available to 
the court today, I am sure that the court would not make 
that decision sir.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Well, it is not.

THE DEFENDANT: I believe that the prosecution may have good 
reason not to produce this, sir, because it does show that I 
am quite innocent of these charges.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The jury will hear the evidence and I 
will sum up on the evidence available on the 10th, but Dr. 
Robin will not be available because he is going to hospital.

THE DEFENDANT: I intend to have a private, a personal 
psychiatric report prepared on my behalf, and as I have 
mentioned, I have been seen by three other doctors. All of 
them are prepared to confirm that there is no question of a 
mental illness in this case, it is purely a matter of 
(inaudible).

THE COMMON SERJEANT: We shall have what we have here in many 
cases, and that is a conflict of evidence.

THE DEFENDANT: May I request that you listen to my plea for 
bail, sir? I am under the most extraordinary stresses and 
strains under the prison system, sir, especially as it seems 
undecided as to what is going to happen to me. I am a 
married man, I have a wife and a daughter, we are two 
thousand miles away from our homes. I am fully prepared to 
attend the court and prove my innocence under any 
circumstances that are imposed upon me, but I feel that I 
have been subjected to quite a considerable amount of -- I 
do not know the word, your honour -- but 18 months I have 
waited patiently in a box, your honour, locked up 23 hours a 
day. There are no facilities in the prison, and I am certain 
that the prison governors will allow -- refuse to have me 
any facilities for listening to evidence. We have applied on 
a number of occasions -- they always refuse. They simply do 
not have the staffing or space available, sir.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I will certainly bear that in mind, but 
I will hear what Mr. Spens has to say about that on this 
issue.

MR. SPENS: There are objections to bail. Can I outline the 
facts very briefly, and call the officer?

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Mr. Wilcken, you have been of great 
assistance, and Mr. Kalisher -- I would like to say that -

10


but I have no control over what Mr. Koupparis' wishes that 
if he should change his mind, I would obviously take the 
view that you and Mr. Kalisher would be in a position to act 
on his behalf, but I appreciate it may not be possible 
because you have other commitments, or will have other 
commitments.

MR. WILCKEN: The only matter that does occur to me is this, 
and I shall speak to Mr. Campion about the matter at some 
later date. I know that both Mr. Kalisher and I -- I can 
speak for myself, and I think I can speak for Mr. Kalisher -
- are reluctant to leave any defendant, so to speak, under-
represented before your Lordship, or before any other court, 
because we know the difficulties and dangers and pitfalls 
that an unrepresented defendant can fall into.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Particularly with a case of this 
nature.

MR. WILCKEN: Precisely. The only matter that does occur to 
me -- I am not expressing a view one way or the other, apart 
from saying this -- is that it might well be, my Lord, that 
the assistance of somebody such as Mr. Kalisher might be 
called upon for that single issue to be resolved on the 10th 
November.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: If it should be convenient for either 
of you to be available, I would certainly make an order that 
you are entitled to your costs. I have no doubt about that 
and I do so now, because I think you would be of great 
assistance to the court, and it may save a great deal of 
money in the long run were you available and should he 
change his mind.

MR. WILCKEN: I say that in Mr. Koupparis' presence because I 
had not discussed that matter earlier. He may care to 
reflect upon it.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: In other words, what I am saying is 
that, subject to Mr. Koupparis' wishes, you can come back 
into the case at any time.

MR. WILCKEN: I do not think I can assist your Lordship any 
further.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I say that in the interests of justice.

MR. SPENS: May I briefly outline the facts of the matter?
Your Lordship will know that this case concerns a blackmail
demand against the Government of Cyprus. On the 23rd March
of 1987, the presidential palace in Cyprus received a letter
addressed to the president, Mr. Kyprianou. It contained a
highly complex ransom demand, and the sum of US $15 million
was sought against the threat that if no payment was
forthcoming, a highly toxic gas, dioxene, would be released
over the island. The ransom was signed by Commander Nemo of
Force Majeure which the crown say was a cover name used by
this defendant. On the 2nd April -----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: This matter had better go into 
chambers, it is a matter of bail.

11


THE CLERK OF THE COURT: This court is now sitting in 
chambers. Those people not directly concerned with this case 
should now leave court, that includes the public gallery.

MR. SPENS: On the 2nd April, the Crown say that the 
defendant telephoned the Cypriot authorities and then 
introduced himself as Colonel Digsby of M.I.6., British 
Military Intelligence. Digsby attempted to add credence to 
Nemo's demands by saying that he (inaudible) intelligence on 
Nemo in Force Majeure, that they were a credible and 
dangerous organisation which had to be taken seriously.

Digsby reported the threat to be genuine and advised that 
payment be made. On the 7th April, documents similar to 
those sent to the president of Cyprus were sent to the 
Cyprus High Commission in London, Mr. Panayides. During the 
week beginning Monday the 11th May, Digsby introduced to the 
high commissioner a personality by the name of Cambanelas 
who was purporting to offer his services to locate in Cyprus 
the devices in which the gas was contained. That 
introduction was, of course, done on the telephone. It was 
agreed on the telephone that Cambanelas would receive 
£25,000 and would travel to Cyprus, a new passport to be 
issued at the high commission once he produced a photograph 
of himself.

At this stage the authorities were able to monitor the 
blackmail demand very closely and this, of course, was a 
ploy to bring Cambanelas out into the open. On the 14th May, 
this defendant, masquerading as Cambanelas, attended the 
Cyprus High Commission. He handed over a passport photograph 
to the High Commissioner, and in return received an envelope 
which appeared to contain £25,000. In fact it did not, and 
on leaving, he was arrested by officers of the anti-
terrorist branch. That is a very short summary.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I have read the whole of the papers, 
but I would be grateful if subsequently I can be provided 
with a summary of the prosecution case.

MR. SPENS: There is a summary which has been brought to 
court today. It will be served on the court within the week 
and Mr. Temple who leads me is going to prepare a note for 
opening. I will call Detective Constable Dillon to give the 
objections.

D.C. Michael Dillon, sworn Examined by Mr. Spens.

THE WITNESS: Michael Dillon, Detective Constable attached to 
Scotland Yard, your honour.

MR. SPENS: Have you produced the antecedents and previous 
convictions of this defendant?

A. Yes.

Q. What are your objections to bail?

A. There are three objections to bail, my Lord. Firstly, I 
believe that the defendant will not appear at court to

12


answer the charges. In saying that, he has no permanent 
address in the United Kingdom. As you previously heard this 
morning, his home in is in Cyprus. Saying that, there is a 
family home at 12, Strickland Court, South East London, but 
it is strongly believed that if released from custody, he 
will try to leave the country and return to Cyprus, or 
somewhere else outside the United Kingdom. We also believe 
that he will commit further offences if granted bail. As you 
can see, he was on bail for offences at Penrith Magistrates' 
Court for possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage 
and failing to provide a specimen of breath following an 
altercation in that part of the world prior to the defences 
being committed.

Also, my Lord, we feel that he will interfere with witnesses 
in this case. He is known to a number of witnesses who have 
given statements to police, and has worked with some of 
those witnesses closely. Also we believe that the witnesses 
he is known to, he will possibly put pressure to either 
retract their evidence or add further evidence for his own 
defence.

Q. Does he have any visible means of support?

A. No, he was unemployed at the time of arrest, and as far 
as we could tell, he was not drawing any social benefits 
whatsoever.

MR. SPENS: Thank you.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Mr. Koupparis, you can ask the officer 
any questions you want about what he has said relating to 
bail.

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, your honour. May I make it in the form 
of a summary of what----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You can do that in a minute, but you 
can ask him questions first. Can you not put specific 
questions to him? Mr. Campion may help you, I do not know.

THE DEFENDANT: (To the witness) You have mentioned that this 
defendant has previous convictions. Will you confirm to this 
court that these are two minor and spent convictions which 
were during my juvenile years, some 27 years ago, sir?

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The last was 1971. I propose to 
disregard them.

THE DEFENDANT: With the matter of my not having anywhere to 
live, sir, my mother and the family home is at 12, 
Strickland Court. She has indicated ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: That is right, is it not? His mother 
lives there.

A. That is correct, my Lord, yes.

THE DEFENDANT: Mr. Dillon, you also mentioned the 
possibility of committing offences. Now, I am charged here 
with having virtually declared war on the Government of 
Cyprus. Are you saying that I am also running around 
damaging a signpost outside a hot potato stall in Penrith, 
sir? Is this the

13


scale of the charges that you are putting against me?

A. I have not indicated whatsoever about declaring war with 
any government. I am just indicating to the court the 
offence what the defendant was on bail for whilst these 
offences were committed.

Q. But what are you saying that I will commit? I will knock 
over another sign outside a potato stall or commit an 
offence of this magnitude against another government? What 
are you saying, sir?

A. I cannot say exactly what offence will be committed. It 
is just that the police believe further offences will be 
committed.

Q. Have I committed other offences the last 20 years since 
those minor juvenile offences? You will note, sir, before 
you answer that, both these arrests happened within a space 
of a couple of weeks.

A. My Lord, I feel I am unable to answer that question 
whatsoever. We have no knowledge of how the offences were 
committed.

Q. Finally, you say that I was unemployed, yet you are fully 
aware that I am the owner of Futura Investment Limited which 
is an international off-shore company dealing in futures 
investment throughout the financial markets of the world.

A. This company, my Lord, was registered in Cyprus, not in 
the United Kingdom.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Do you know if it has got any money in 
it? According to the documents before me, he ran a lot of 
debts.

A. That is correct. He refused, basically, my Lord, to 
answer any such ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Have you any money in this company, Mr. 
Koupparis?

THE DEFENDANT: I have not had access to this company for ---

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You must know if there was money in it 
when you last left it?

THE DEFENDANT: The company has a trading turnover of a $100 
million. The accountants of the company have given evidence, 
their statement is -- are in there.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: How much money were you making from it?

THE DEFENDANT: I was making money from American publications 
which was earning $30,000 a month.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Do you want to ask any other questions?

THE DEFENDANT: Mr. Dillon knows full well that my mother was 
up in the gallery there, she is fully supportive of me. She 
has her own private income and she is fully able to look 
after me, under the circumstances, and house me. Is that not 
a family home that would be suitable for me to stay at with 
my two brothers?

A. I did not regard that as a question, I thought it was a

14


statement..

Q. I said you are fully aware.

A. I am fully aware that is your mother's home.

Q. And that is where I was living at the time when I was 
arrested?

A. You were staying there.

Q. And you are quite right to point out that I am not under 
any form of social security. I don't need to to be. I am 
capable of looking after myself without calling upon the 
state to do so.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Yes, thank you.

(The witness withdrew.)

MR. SPENS: That is the case.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Am I entitled to overlook the 
information before me from Dr. Bowden?

MR. SPENS: I do not think so, my Lord, no.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: You have seen a copy of Dr. Bowden's 
report have you not? I know you have disagreed with its 
contents, but it is the only medical report I have before 
me.

THE DEFENDANT: Dr. Bowden has written and I am fully aware 
that he said I should be committed under a Section 37 with a 
41 which is a standard procedure in these matters. The 
reason he has done that is because he became aware that for 
a short period of time, I lost track of reality and fantasy. 
Now, at the time, and what has confused everybody in this 
case, is that I was under psychiatric care for a neurosis. I 
was suffering from a depression caused by external factors 
of an emotional upset, your honour. At some crucial point, 
one of my drugs became contaminated with what is known as a 
psychotomimetic drug.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Can you go a little more slowly because 
the shorthand writer is taking a note?

THE DEFENDANT: This drug, which I can prove I had legal 
access to, which after two years it still exists, I can call 
it as evidence, contaminated one of my drugs as a result of 
which I went into a full blown psychosis. I lost track of 
reality. I was writing a book at the time with Commander 
Nemo, Force Majeure, the actual threat is quite impossible. 
Pearson's statement shows where a scientist says "highly 
unlikely" he means impossible. That was designed by me to be 
impossible so that nobody would be able to take the book and 
make a weapon.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: Slow it up, he cannot take a note. He 
has got to take a note, you see.

THE DEFENDANT: I am accused of demanding $15 million. When 
one

15


looks at that, one realises that the demand is made in 
impossible currency: two hundred dollar bills. These, sir, 
have never existed. They are not legal tender, they can not 
be regarded as money or property. The actual summary that 
the prosecutor has made here is totally flawed in relation 
to what happened. I am not denying that I did all these 
things. All I am saying is at the time that I was not in 
full possession of my faculties, because my drugs became 
contaminated with a drug that caused total derangement of 
thought, but as soon as I was arrested, within two months I 
recovered fully and I have been in custody for a year and a 
half, sir. There has been no incidents of any such thing 
occurring, sir. It was specifically confined to that short 
little period, and that little incident with the potato shop 
was just as a result of this derangement that I was 
subjected to. I had no idea that my drugs were carrying a 
little dose of a drug that causes this derangement. Dr. 
Robin's report states this quite clearly. Dr. Robin is a 
qualified psychopharmacologist, as far as I understand. When 
-I explained it to him, he was amazed that this thing could 
happen. As a result of this, I have been in jail for a year 
and a half and I am struggling to prove my innocence. Now I 
have got to prove that I am sane. The fact that I was under 
medical supervision for a depressive condition which is a 
neurosis not a mental illness is proof of that, but my 
witnesses are in Cyprus, your honour.

Now, I have lived in England all my life. I have established 
businesses here. I am quite happy to stay in the UK, present 
my story to the jury, and I am sure under the circumstances 
they will find me not guilty, your honour. But, well, there 
is not much I can add without telling you the whole defence. 
I have got nothing to hide your honour. There is nothing in 
this case that I cannot give a logical reason for.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: What you tell me convinces me more than 
ever you ought to have legal advice, but it is a matter for 
you because you may well be trying to argue that there was 
no mens rea accompanying these defences.

THE DEFENDANT: It is a case of automatism, your honour. If I 
am under the influence of an intoxicating drug and not being 
aware of what I am doing, that would be the foundation of my 
defence, your honour, and I agree entirely with you, sir, 
that I would need a barrister. Unfortunately, the advice 
that I am getting from my barristers has been compromised by 
the fact that Dr. Bowden, and all of us were unaware of this 
contamination until recently. It was as a result of my 
conversation with him that I was able to put together the 
facts. Please try and realize that my memory of the events 
was totally scrambled, your honour. Even at the interview, 
when the police arrested me, I was unable to account for 
myself properly. They withdrew all my drugs immediately and 
I went into drug withdrawals for two months which 
exacerbated the problem. By the time I came out, everything 
was too late. It was too late for me to explain. All my 
evidence had gone. As I say, I was two thousand miles away 
from where the incident had happened, and I did not remember 
it. It is only until very recently, a month or so ago, that

16


my memory returned sufficiently for me to-put the whole 
thing back together again. At this, do understand exactly 
what Dr. Bowden has said, but if there were any way that Dr. 
Robin can be called, I understand he is going into hospital 
on the sixth, he would be available technically to come and 
give evidence at this trial today. I also know that his 
report has been finished because it was typed up by the 
prison authorities. So the fact that the prosecution say no 
such report is ----

THE COMMON SERJEANT: The Crown will consider whether or not 
they would be prepared to allow the report to be read out to 
the jury. They would have to consider that.

THE DEFENDANT: I am preparing now myself independent psycho 
pharmalogical and psychiatric reports, and I can produce any 
number that the court wants that will hold this view. Dr. 
Bowden's view is a singular view which was made at the time 
when an explanation for this derangement was not available. 
Therefore he had no other choice. If I understand that if a 
man is able to lose his reasoning and is not aware of what 
he is doing, of course he is dangerous, sir, but the 
circumstances speak for themselves. I am a professional 
man. I have lived 37 years of my life without any form of 
derangement whatsoever. For two short months of my life, 
coinciding with this period of contamination and 
subsequently intoxication, I create an international 
incident. I realize that, your honour, the people, both the 
British and the people of Cyprus, want an explanation. I 
want to give that explanation. Some very serious charges 
have been made against me. I have no desire to live under 
that shadow, your honour. I want to prove my innocence but 
I beseech you sir, please consider my application for bail 
because this is the biggest strain upon me at the moment. 
It is extremely difficult to do anything from prison. I am 
prepared to put up some substantial sureties, your honour - 
not in two hundred dollar bills, I might add. I think the 
figure of a £100,000 has been raised on my behalf in the 
past. I have a strong family network here. I have several 
hundred members of my family who live and work in England. 
They all have established businesses, they are all willing 
to support me in this matter. Thank you, sir.

THE COMMON SERJEANT: I have already fixed the 10th November 
as the next date for this matter upon which the issue 
whether or not you are fit to plead will take place. I have 
to consider whether or not I will be justified in granting 
bail. In my view, there are substantial grounds for 
believing that further offences would be committed and you 
would not attend for trial in view of the consequences, 
should you be convicted. I must say that in reaching this 
decision, I have had regard to the medical report from 
Doctor Paul Bowden dated the 15th September, which is before 
me, and which at present constitutes the only medical 
report. In those circumstances, I cannot possibly grant 
bail, but I am concerned about the facilities for conducting 
your defence, which may be very limited in prison. I give 
liberty to apply to me, in this court, on your behalf, it 
can be conducted through one of Mr. Campion's assistants 
because he will be aware, should it be necessary. I have no

17


doubt that Mr. Campion will bear that well in mind, but I 
am concerned about that and should facilities not be made 
available, then I may well take some other steps. I am 
anxious that you should have full facilities to pursue your 
own defence.

18


I certify that I took shorthand notes in the proceedings in 
the trial of Regina v. Koupparis and Koupparis and that the 
pages numbered 1 - 18 herewith are a correct and complete 
transcript of my said notes to the best of my skill and 
ability.

27th October, 1988.

Associate of the Institute of Shorthand writers.