second witness statement, and I need not repeat them. It is enough for me to say that this generosity was typical of Bane’s behaviour to many of his friends, that it did not involve any impropriety, and that it did not in my judgment influence Mr Evans’ evidence. Subject to the slight reservations which I have already mentioned, I found him to be a reliable witness. Barbara Yerolemou 130. Mrs Yerolemou has been a local councillor for the Hanger Hill Ward of Ealing since 1994. She is also a member of the Ealing Conservative Party Association. She first met Bane in 1996 or 1997, and a friendship developed between them. She says that Bane became a paid up member of the Association, and was generous with his donations, particularly when she stood as a Parliamentary candidate for the local constituency. 131. Mrs Yerolemou’s impression of Bane was that he was always very hospitable, and was a man of very strong character with very strong opinions. He told her that he had previously given financial support to David Mellor and the Putney Conservative Party Association, but had become disenchanted with Mr Mellor after his marital difficulties had become public knowledge. He had then withdrawn his support for the Putney Association, but he nevertheless continued his support for the Ealing Association. In 2000 the Ealing Association created the new honour of life vicepresident, and decided to bestow it on Bane and one other substantial supporter. Mrs Yerolemou telephoned him to ask if he would accept this honour, and he gratefully accepted. 132. Mrs Yerolemou’s last meeting with Bane was in July 2004, when he asked her to call on him to assist in filling out an insurance form. In the course of their discussion, Bane mentioned his family and said he had a son in Scotland from whom he had become estranged and whom he had not seen for a long time. He told Mrs Yerolemou that his former wife had turned his son against him. He said that his son made no effort to see him, and did not do anything for him. 133. Mrs Yerolemou said that she would describe some of Bane’s views, particularly on religion and history, as eccentric, but many of her constituents had stranger ideas. She was impressed by his lively mind and charisma, and said that he displayed great interest in history, sport, his garden and politics. She had no doubt that he could organise himself and manage his affairs. However, it became clear in crossexamination that she had never seen any of Bane’s more extreme writings, and when she was taken to them she said that “this is not the Mr Kostic I knew”. 134. She attended Bane’s funeral on 3 November 2005, and wrote in her diary at the time: “(At the crematorium)… Mostly the people were from 1980 onwards as if he had cast pre 1980 aside. He divorced from his wife and his life. We were his retirement friends almost …” This was in my judgment a perceptive comment, and reflected the fact that after the onset of his mental illness in the 1980s Bane’s personality underwent a major change and nearly all of his former friends were rejected by him.