Unsurprisingly, Mr Hughes had no recollection of this, and agreed that it was
impossible he could ever have advised Bane in such terms.
152.
Question 8 on the form asked “If you are married, where do your wife and children (if
any) reside?” In answering this question, Bane provided the following additional
information:
“I despised them totally. They are part of the conspiracy
against me, which wanted to destroy me financially, socially
and physically. They don’t exist any more for me. My
solicitor Oppenheimers – Mr David Hughes and Mr Ian Airey
could furnish you with information.”
It should be noted that in this answer “them” must refer to Mirjana and Zoran,
because the question related only to his wife and children. Unless Bane had misread
the question, he could not have answered in these terms if he regarded only his wife
and sister as conspirators against him. It is again hardly necessary to add that Mr
Hughes was never contacted by the Inspector to provide further information under this
head.
153.
It is also interesting to note, before leaving the domicile questionnaire, that in answer
to question 11 (“What is the reason for your residence in the United Kingdom?”)
Bane gave a brief resume of his life history, recording that from the age of eight Great
Britain was his ideal and everybody in Belgrade used to call him “Bane – English”.
He said that he had taught himself English language, literature, history and politics,
and was a convinced royalist devoted to the Royal Family. He said that he had
become a British citizen in May 1975, and although he had dual citizenship he had not
renewed his Yugoslav passport in 1988. He had last been in Yugoslavia in September
1972, “and I shall never ever visit that country”. He continued:
“I appreciate very much the way of life in Great Britain, the
most tolerant society in the World.”
I suspect that some minor details of this self-portrait may be exaggerated, or even
fictional, but the document is nevertheless of value as showing how Bane perceived
himself, and his relationship with his family, early in 1988.
The Expert Evidence
154.
As I have already said, the Court had the benefit of expert evidence, both written and
oral, from two distinguished psychiatrists, Dr Adrienne Reveley instructed on behalf
of Zoran and Professor Robert Howard instructed on behalf of the CPA.
155.
Dr Reveley is an experienced psychiatrist, who specialises in general adult psychiatry.
After qualifying in medicine in 1972, she trained in psychiatry in the USA. From
1979 to 2003 she worked at the Maudsley Hospital, the Bethlem Royal Hospital and
the Institute of Psychiatry, collectively known as “the Maudsley”, and from 1983 to
2003 she was a consultant psychiatrist at the Bethlem Royal Hospital and a lead
consultant within the National Directorate of the South London & Maudsley NHS
Trust. She also engaged in psychiatric research in the Institute of Psychiatry and
published widely in the fields of psychiatric diagnosis, neuropsychiatry and