jason place's additional defence statement addendum
DESCRIPTION
Addition to Jason Place's Defence case statementTRANSCRIPT
IN THE CROWN COURT CASE No: T20107219
AT SOUTHWARK
REGINA
V
JASON PLACE
ADDENDUM TO DEFENCE STATEMENT
1. This Addendum is intended to supplement the Defence Statement ofthe Accused
dated 23 November 2011.
2. This Addendum supplements, and is not intended to alter nor detract from anything
contained within the Defence Statement of23 November last. It provides additional
information as to the Accused ' s dealings with Confidential Access ('CA' ) from
August 2005 onwards.
Additional Information
(i) Potential Sale to Barclays and Extradition to UK
3. In May 2008, the Metropolitan Police made arrests in the UK which were related to
the activities of CA. Because of his previous association with CA, the Accused
sought and received legal advice from Mr. Fred Bunn of Bark and Co. Solicitors. Mr
Bunn met the Accused in Spain.
4. Mr. Bunn and Giles Bark Jones, Senior Partner of Bark and Co. subsequently
suggested a meeting between the Accused and a man named Steve Young. The
Accused understood Steve Young to be Head of Security for Barclays plc. The
Accused was told by Mr. Bunn and Mr. Bark-Jones that the purpose they could
facilitate a meeting in Spain between representatives of CA and Steve Young. Mr.
Bunn and Mr. Bark-Jones indicated to the Accused that there was potential for a
multimillion pound purchase of CA by Barclays.
5. As was set out in the Defence Statement, the Accused moved to Spain in August
2005. He sold CA to Joanne Colomvakos aka Joanne Tragas for a sum of £100,000
which was to be paid to the Accused as and when funds were available to enable
payment to be made. At the time of the sale, there was an oral agreement between the
Accused, Sales and Colomvakos to the effect that if the database and business of CA
were later to be sold on to a major financial institution then the Accused would take
the lead in the negotiations for such a sale. The Accused, Sales and Colomvakos
would then each receive a third of the proceeds.
6. In pursuit of that oral agreement, a meeting between the Accused, Sales, Mr. Bunn
and Mr. Young took place on 12 November 2008. The meeting was held in the
Guarda Corte Hotel, La Ligna, Spain and lasted some three hours between four and
seven in the evening. At the meeting Mr. Young was provided with infonnation about
the workings of CA and the location of its servers. The meeting was conducted as if it
was the early stages of a buy-out by the bank. It was left on the basis that Mr. Young
would get back to Mr. Bunn concerning the next stage of the purchase.
7. The proposed deal between CA and Barclays came to nothing.
8. The Accused now believes that Mr. Young spoke to officers in this country about his
meeting the Accused in Spain.
9. On 3 December 2008, less than a month after the meeting with Mr. Young, the Hong
Kong server for CA was taken down.
10. Following the arrest ofthe Accused in Gibraltar, he was remanded in custody pending
extradition. He challenged the extradition proceedings initiated against him being
represented by specialist extradition solicitors based in Gibraltar. Whilst that
challenge was pending, he was visited in custody by a representative of Bark and Co,
Mr. Chris Finch. Mr. Finch persuaded the Accused to abandon his attempt to resist
extradition. The Accused was subsequently returned to the UK on 17 March 2010.
(ii) Possession of material found at the premises belonging to J a son Place in Alicante
11. The Accused asserts that computers and other incriminating material found at a
property owned by him in Alicante was not put there by him.
12. The Accused does not know who it was who put the material there, but suspects it
could have been Joanne Colomvakos, Paul Payne and/or Linda Smith. The Accused
believes that all three of those persons were living near to the Alicante property at the
time of the raids.
13. The Accused believes that it is possible that Joanne Colomvakos had reason to
implicate him in order to avoid proceedings being taken against her. She has been
convicted of offences relating to CA in the USA.
14. The Accused further asserts that Paul Payne and Linda Smith held a hostile animus
towards him. They may have sought to implicate the Accused in order to avoid any
proceedings being taken against them. The Accused believes that they were the
subject of arrest warrants issued in the Republic of Ireland.
Disclosure
(i) Potential Sale to Barclays and Extradition to UK
15. Pursuant to this Addendum to the Defence Statement dated 23 November 2011, the
Accused seeks disclosure of:
(i) All records of any contact between any officer and Steve Young in connection
with this investigation and/or these proceedings;
(ii) Details of all information provided to the UK authorities by Steve Young;
(iii) All records of any contact between any officer and Fred Bunn in connection
with this investigation and/or proceedings prior to the return of the Accused to
theUK;
(iv) All records of any contact between any officer or prosecution lawyer and Bark
and Co. in connection with the extradition of the Accused;
(v) All records of any contact between any officer and Fred Bunn in connection
with the Accused following the return of the Accused to the UK.
16. The reason the Accused seeks disclosure ofthis material is because he believes
that he may have been tricked by Mr. Bunn into providing information to Mr. Young,
who then provided the information to the authorities. If that was the case, then the
continuation of these proceedings would arguably constitute an abuse of the process
of the Court. Any material of the type identified in paragraph 12 above might
reasonably assist the defence.
17. In addition, the Accused believes he may have been tricked into abandoning his
challenge to the extradition proceedings initiated against him. If that was the case and
the authorities had any role in that process, the continuation of these proceedings
would arguably constitute an abuse of the process of the Court. Any material of the
type identified in paragraph 12 above might reasonably assist the defence.
(ii) Possession of material found at the premises belonging to Jason Place in Alicante
18. The Accused requests disclosure of:
(i) Details of any and all contact between officers involved in this investigation
and/or proceedings and Paul Payne. Such details should include all
information provided to officers which touches upon these proceedings;
(ii) Details of any and all contact between officers involved in this investigation
and/or proceedings and Linda Smith. Such detail should include all
information provided to officers which touches upon these proceedings;
(iii) Details of any and all contact between officers involved in this investigation
and/or proceedings and Joanne Colomvakos aka Tragas. Such detail should
include all information provided to officers which touches upon these
proceedings;
(iv) The place of residence of Joanne Colomvakos aka Tragas at the time of the
Alicante search;
(v) All details known by the prosecuting authorities of the prosecution of Joanne
Colomvakos aka Tragas in the USA.
(vi) Details of outstanding proceedings in the Republic oflreland against Paul
Payne and/or Linda Smith
19. The reason the Accused seeks disclosure of this material is that it may reasonably
assist his defence as set out in his Defence Statement of23 November last and this
Addendum.
Jason Place
6 March 2012