He does not suffer any mental illness, nor is he feeble minded, but South African fugitive Dirk Prinsloo always wants to be the centre of attention.
According to a forensic psychiatric report on the former advocate who is standing trial on five charges in the Baranovichi High Court in Belarus, aside from seeking attention, Prinsloo is also excessively self assured.
The report, which was yesterday read to the court, said Prinsloo was a complex person, but he was in control of his actions and did not suffer from "absurd and hallucinatory complications".
"There is no information that he may not have fully realised the meaning of his actions (during the alleged bank robbery last year)," it said.
"There was no temporary mental disorder that he could not realise the nature and danger of his actions," it continued.
It said Prinsloo displayed signs of having high testosterone levels, he was purposeful and sought special attention on himself.
"If he did not get it, he became irritated."
This was in line with other people's perception of him as a fitness fanatic, neatly dressed and concerned with his appearance.
Although he wished to make a good impression on others, he was inclined to impose his point of view without taking those of others into account, the report said.
Before the court adjourned, Prinsloo promised Judge Vasily Petriv that he would be "a very good boy" if allowed to re-examine two of the victims who were employed at the bank. He also earlier claimed that he suffered from temporary non-pathological unaccountability during the robbery, as he was in financial trouble.
He "cracked" when he saw his one former girlfriends with torn shoes, and realised that he could not even buy shoes for their baby daughter.
This claim was repeated yesterday when his advocate, Svetlana Ambrosimova, read statements to the court in reaction to the psychiatric report.
The first was from the prison in Brest that stated Prinsloo did not "violate any regime" and his behaviour inside was according to the rules of the prison.
She also read a statement by Prinsloo, made in October last year, four months after his arrest, that he was physically and psychologically tortured by the police.
In the statement Prinsloo said that he "came to myself" the moment he saw the money on the cashier's desk, his father's face in his mind, and the blood on one of the employees.
"I was shocked when I realised what I was doing and immediately left the bank," he said.
According to him, the thought of robbing the bank had entered his mind a few times before, but he only wanted to take "a little money from the cashier", and not from the ATM or depository.
"But I successfully suppressed these thoughts until that day when... I lost common sense," he wrote.
Just before the court adjourned, he addressed the judge: "I ask very respectfully if the court would be kind enough to ask two of the bank victims back, so I can ask them questions.
"I'll be a very good boy".
Prinsloo was earlier removed from court as the judge found his questions to victims and his behaviour disruptive.
He also asked that three documents the investigating officer took "unlawfully" from his (Prinsloo's) flat be returned.
They include a handwritten debt acknowledgement from a man who allegedly owed Prinsloo $100 000 for a necklace.
This is the necklace that one of his former girlfriends, Svetlana Basalai, claimed Prinsloo had stolen from her. He said it was his.
The second document was a letter from former girlfriend Anastasia, written when the couple parted. As she is the woman who alleged that Prinsloo assaulted and threatened to kill her, Prinsloo yesterday said she wrote nothing of that in the letter to him.
Thirdly, he wanted a letter from former girlfriend, Tatiana Leshko, that could prove she lied to Prinsloo about his money.
When he quoted her as allegedly saying: "I am a lying bitch," Judge Petriv remarked that it sounded like a quote from a famous poet.
Prinsloo smiled, but responded: "Please Judge, this is serious, it could prove my innocence".
According to Prinsloo, Basalai took his clothes and Interpol documents on him "unlawfully" as she felt he owed her money.
The judge agreed to recall the two witnesses, but said his other requests were not reasonable or relevant.
He added that the issue of Prinsloo's clothes was beyond the court's powers and the accused could lay a charge of theft against Basalai.
(Proceeding)