himself. Dr Reveley readily accepted that in many contexts Bane was obviously seeing Ajax as somebody with great similarities to himself, or even as himself, but nevertheless remained of the opinion that at certain times he did think Ajax was a separate person who communicated to him. She said that it is quite common for a deluded person to take dictation from an imaginary interlocutor, and she repeated the warning she had given earlier in her evidence about the risks of placing an overly rational interpretation on the products of a deluded mind. I agree with Dr Reveley on this point, and I find that there were a few occasions when Bane did actually believe himself to be in conversation with Ajax or taking dictation from him. The issue is ultimately one of little importance, but it does show, to my mind, that Bane’s extravagantly metaphorical and colourful language did at times go beyond mere figures of speech and reflect true auditory hallucinations. The evidence of Professor Howard 181. Professor Howard prepared a single report which is dated 26 February 2007. The report was based upon his reading of 15 volumes of documents, the witness statements on each side, and Dr Reveley’s first report. 182. In paragraph 11 of his report Professor Howard says: “I believe that it is important to say that the majority of the letters and diary entries written by Mr Kostic … show that he was capable of writing very rational and factually accurate accounts of his social and business activities. Within these documents there is no evidence to suggest psychopathology and this absence reflects the encapsulated nature of his abnormal ideas and beliefs.” 183. He then goes on to list, and quote from, the main items of documentary evidence which throw light on Bane’s abnormal mental state, to set out much of the evidence relating to Bane’s relationship with Zoran, and to refer to the very limited medical evidence that is available. He then states his opinion in the form of answers to specific questions that he has been asked to consider. He says that in his opinion Bane was suffering from delusional disorder at the dates of the 1988 and 1989 Wills, and refers to the definition of Delusional Disorder in the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders as being “… characterised by the development either of a single delusion or of a set of related delusions which are usually persistent and sometimes lifelong. The delusions are highly variable in content. Often they are persecutory … Other psychopathology is characteristically absent … Onset is commonly in middle age … The content of the delusion, and the timing of its emergence, can often be related to the individual’s life situation … Apart from actions and attitudes directly related to the delusion or delusional system, affect, speech and behaviour are normal.” 184. Professor Howard goes on to say in paragraph 89 of his report that in his opinion Bane’s personality “was a highly unusual one”: