The Times - UK (2021-12-18)

the times | Saturday December 18 2021 2GM 19

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minor “slip and fall case”, in which she

said she lived there from 1992. Her law-

yers said she had made a mistake

because she did not have records in

front of her.

Maxwell’s lawyer, Christian Everdell,

then announced that the pub landlord,

Kevin Moran, was prepared to fly to

New York and give evidence.

Later prosecutors and the defence

announced that they had reached an

agreement, which would mean that

Moran would no longer be needed in

New York, and that marshals would not

need to be sent to arrest the unrespon-

sive witness.

Her lawyers had called a New York

doctor and mother of three who was

Epstein’s girlfriend in the 1980s and re-

mained friendly with him afterwards.

Eva Dubin, 60, a former Miss Swe-

den, said she had never observed any

inappropriate conduct between Ep-

stein and any teenage girls. But shown

F

rom a torchlit

search for a 4ft

iguana to a

python trapped

behind a tumble

dryer, capturing rare

beasts is rarely dull

(Elisabeth Perlman

writes).

A Facebook group

which started as a place

to document sightings of

exotic pets will now

offer a nationwide

advisory service as part

of Britain’s leading

animal rescue

organisation. From early

next year, Beastwatch

UK will support the

British Animal Rescue

& Trauma Care

Association (Barta) in

situations where a vet is

needed urgently.

Thanks to its presence

on social media,

Beastwatch has become

the country’s first

search-and-rescue

operation for exotic

animals. Mike Potts

from Preston,

Lancashire, the group’s

chief executive, hopes it

will become a

“household name

associated with first

response”.

Potts, 54, said:

“There’s an unmet need

because the RSPCA are

not operating 24 hours.

They’re not responsive

enough to be classed as

an emergency service.”

Beastwatch would

assist when an exotic

animal has been in a

road accident or a house

fire. “The animal may

need urgent fostering or

we may be called on to

quickly identify if a

species is dangerous.”

Since 2016, the group

has been finding exotic

animals which would

otherwise starve, die

due to the cold or be

attacked by predators.

It has 3,300 members,

an increase of almost 20

per cent year-on-year.

Members’ posts

include requests for help

to locate missing parrots

and neglected ferrets. If

found, these animals are

returned, rehomed with

vetted keepers or sent to

licensed sanctuaries.

The group, which

offers its services free,

has seen demand

increase as more exotic

pets are being

abandoned.

The RSPCA received

15,000 calls about exotic

animals in 2018, 13 per

cent more than the year

before. Many of them

related to pets being

discarded.

Leading animal

welfare organisations do

not have the resources

to search for lost or

deserted pets.

An RSPCA

spokesman said: “We

took the decision to

close our national

phoneline between the

hours of 10pm and 7am

as only a handful of calls

come in during this time

and it means we can

make sure we focus our

resources to deal with

emergencies in peak

times when more

animals need us.”

Beastwatch has 500

volunteers, many of

whom are animal rescue

responders. There are

teams across every

county in England.

“Unfortunately,

abandoned animals that

can survive by foraging

have a tendency to just

disappear,” Potts said.

He is particularly

proud of saving an

iguana on a back street

in Blackpool. “Despite

overwhelming odds on a

cold night by torchlight,

we captured it,” he said.

“Because of the way

the invasive alien

species law was adopted

and because of how it

was implemented by

Defra, which took a very

hard line on rehoming,

we saw a marked

increase in animals

being abandoned.”

Raccoon dogs, of

which Potts has two, are

classified as a non-native

invasive species along

with the likes of the

terrapin. They cannot be

kept as pets, unless they

were owned before the

species was listed,

because of the threat

they pose to biodiversity.

Help on

hand for

lost exotic

animals

Bisto the chocolate skunk is safe with Mike Potts, whose organisation is aiming to offer a 24-hour search-and-rescue operation for exotic animals

Top rescues

November 2021 A

white corn snake in an

airing cupboard in a

London home was

retrieved using long

grabber tongs. Case

raised by the National

Centre for Reptile

Welfare, contacted by a

worried homeowner

who had fled the

property out of fear.

October 2021 Night

search in Blackpool for

a missing 4ft bright

orange iguana. Three

Beastwatch UK

volunteers roamed

around back alleys with

high-powered torches

for hours, peering over

people’s fences. Tree

branches were pulled

down using a snake

hook to finally retrieve

the animal.

September 2021 A

black-and-white skunk

was caught in Preston

after a video went viral

of the animal on social

media. The owner used

apps such as NextDoor

to raise awareness. It

took five days to locate

the skunk roaming

around a local park.

December 2020 A

couple from Southport

found a 4ft royal

python behind their

tumble dryer. The

couple had been trying

to fix the faulty

machine when the

snake was found. “It is

not what you expect

when you want to do a

bit of laundry,” they

said. A Beastwatch UK

member stepped in to

rehome the animal.

ANDREW MCCAREN FOR THE TIMES

Ghislaine Maxwell told a judge she
would not give evidence at her trial last
night as her defence team prepared to
rest its case.
Rising from her seat in the well of the
court and speaking clearly through her
black mask, Maxwell told Judge Alison
Nathan that she had made the decision
herself.
“Your honour, the govern-
ment has not proven its
case beyond a reason-
able doubt and so
there is no need for
me to testify.”
Her statement
ended weeks of spec-
ulation over whether
the daughter of the
British press baron
Robert Maxwell would
speak in her own defence,
in the face of charges —
which she denies — that she aid-
ed Jeffrey Epstein in his abuse of
minors.
It came towards the end of a day in
which her lawyers appeared to be
struggling to produce witnesses to testi-
fy in her defence, making an applica-
tion for the judge to send US marshals

I don’t need to testify, Maxwell tells trial

to arrest one woman who had not re-

sponded to their subpoena. They had

also sought permission to call a pub

landlord whose tavern lay across the

road from Maxwell’s old house in

London, in an effort to prove that she

was not living there the year that one of

her accusers recalled being brought to

the house.

The accuser, who testified under the

pseudonym Kate, had alleged

she was invited to Maxwell’s

house in Kinnerton

Street, Belgravia, in

1994 when she was 17.

Kate said her host

told her that Epstein

needed a massage

and led her upstairs

to a room where he

stood naked, closing

the door behind her.

Maxwell’s defence

team produced property

records showing she took

ownership of the house in 1997.

Before admitting them into evidence,

Nathan asked if Maxwell might have

lived there without owning the house,

asking: “They don’t rent places in

London?”

She said prosecutors had provided a

deposition Maxwell gave in 2019, in a

a photograph of her youngest daughter

with Epstein, which was shown to the

jury under seal, Dubin appeared sur-

prised. “I’m assuming you know that

Mr Epstein had this picture,” defence

lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca asked.

“I have never seen this picture

before,” she replied. Asked about

another photograph featuring her eld-

est daughter, which had apparently

been displayed on one of Epstein’s book

cases, she said: “I have never seen this

photo before.”

One of Maxwell’s four accusers in the

trial, who is known under the pseudo-

nym Jane, had told the court that she

was made to take part in group sex ses-

sions with Epstein when she was 14, in-

volving several older women, one of

whom was called Eva.

“Have you ever been in a group

sexual encounter with the person that

we are calling Jane?” Pagliuca asked.

“Absolutely not,” she replied.

Alison Moe, for the prosecution,

asked her: “Are you the only person

named Eva in the whole wide world?”

“It’s a very common name,” she replied.

She told the court she believed Ep-

stein had been dating two other women

during the 1990s, and she was not sure

whether he was in an open relationship

with Maxwell. The trial continues.

Will Pavia, Keiran Southern

Maxwell’s lawyers discuss the case with her after Eva Dubin, left, gave evidence

JANE ROSENBERG/REUTERS

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