WIRELESS SLANDER SUIT

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 August 1935, Page 2

WIRELESS SLANDER SUIT

8.8. C. SUED DAMAGES. LONDON, Juno 27. The first action arising out of a broadcast talk was heard by Lord Hewart, the Lord Chief Justice, and a special jury in the King’s Bench Division yesterday. Mr. George Constantine Lambros of Fairview Way, Edgware, sued the British Broadcasting Corporation for damages for alleged libel and slander. He complained of an article dealing with the drug traffic in Egypt which appeared in “The Listener” on June 20, 1934, after being broadcast on June 12. The defence admitted that it was b’.oadcast and printed, but denied that it concerned Mr. Lambros. Serjeant Sullivan, K.C., for Mr. Lambros, said “Lambros” among the Greeks was a contraction of a popular Christian name. As a Christian name it was common, but as a surname it was extremely rare. < Mr. Lambros was born in Constantinople in 1888, his father being a naturalised British subject. For many years he was engaged in business which took him to Paris, the Mediterranean countries and the Near East.

ARRESTS IN CAIRO. The article complained of was headed: “Suppressing the drug traffic,” “By Russell Pasha.” and. contained the following passages: “One of our best coups this year was the Lambros case. Lnmbros was a Greek whom we have been after for years and had never been able to catch “When we eventually made our arrests in Cairo we searched Lambros’s house, but, as usual, found nothing incriminating. . . .” After referring to an examination of certain ledgers said to have been found in Lambros’s office, the article proceeded: “From them we got the names of (11 of Lambros’s retailers, and proof that Lambros in the space of two and a-half years, had sold hasheesh to the value of £lOO.OOO, and heroin to the f value of JM12.000. i “Eleven local accused got five years' imprisonment and £l.O"0 tine over this case, and Lambros got a year and deportation f:om his Consular Court. “Because of his travels and activities in business in various parts of , the world.” said Serjeant Sullivan. “Mr Lambros, although perfectly innocent of the matters referred to in the article, ’fitted the bit’ ” Mr. Lambros, giving evidence, said he had been Consul in Crete, and cont ilined : "] know of no family in Constantinople of the mime ot Lambros except mine.” He eventually discovered that the man to whom the article really referred was one named Lambros Yannicos. Cross-examined by Mr. Norman Birk<K. K.C.. ’.or the 8.8. C.. Mr. Lambros would m>t agree that the Corporation had done all its could by explanations in “The Listener” and over the wi.eless to remove any impression that he was the person referred to in Mrs. Mary Wilson, of Fairview Way, Edgware, said she heard the wireless;

talk. Mr. Lambros had often spoken to her husband about his experiences in Greece and elsewhere and, talking to her husband after the wireless talk, she said: “Now we know what Lambros has been up to." (Laughter.) For the defence, Sir John Stavridi. solicitor, of Devonshire Consul-General for Greece in the United Kingdom, said Lambros was a well-known surname both in Greece and in Egypt. Counsel read the evidence of Russell Pasha, the director of the Central Narcotics Intelligence Bureau, the author of the article. In this he said the story he told was about -the activities of Lambros Yannicos. 'He had never heard of Mr. Lambros, the plaintiff. Lambros Yannicos was a “family word” in the narcotic traffic. That man had, for many years, been known as the most important drug trafficker in Egypt. The hearing was adjourned until today.