Judge calls out company director for using smart glasses to call his lawyer named ‘Abra Kadabra’ during hearing at High Court, dismissing the case
High Court judge Raquel Agnello said the incident occurred during a case brought by company director Laimonas Jakstys in a dispute about his position as a director of a property developer, Oneta Limited, with a string of flats in south east London, although he was now living in Lithuania.
The case centred around accusations of wrongly filed details for the business on Companies House, brought against Oneta Ltd by Jakstys and UAB Business Enterprises, a company incorporated in Lithuania, which is the sole shareholder in Oneta.
When Jakstys, who was wearing a pair of glasses in court, was cross examined in court Judge Agnello said ‘he seemed to pause quite a bit before replying to the questions’.
Suspicions were raised further when the Oneta’s counsel, Sarah Walker informed the Judge that she could hear ‘an interference coming from around Mr Jakstys’.
An interpreter, sitting in the witness box alongside Jakstys, who is a Lithuanian, confirmed she could also ‘hear interference’.
Judge Agnello stated: ‘It was later ascertained that Mr Jakstys was wearing smart glasses. I asked him to remove them before continuing.
‘After a few further questions… Mr Jakstys’ mobile phone started broadcasting out loud with the voice of someone talking.
‘There was clearly someone on the mobile phone talking to Mr Jakstys. He then removed his mobile phone from his inner jacket pocket. At my direction, the smart glasses and his mobile were placed into the hands of his solicitor.’
Jakstys denied that he was using the smart glasses to receive the answers in court, also denying that his smart glasses were linked to his mobile phone, stating the voice was ChatGPT.
After the day’s proceedings, Jakstys was asked if his mobile phone’s metadata could be checked, which he agreed to, and a photo was then taken of his mobile screen showing the call log.
The photograph of his phone’s call log revealed that various calls were made on the first day of the trial to someone called ‘Abra Kadabra’.
When asked who Abra Kadabra was, Jakstys replied it was a taxi driver, but the Judge said: ‘He provided no name or details of the taxi driver’.
Watching the eight-day hearing via a video link was a Lithuanian lawyer, Dr Miliauskas, who was not representing the claimants according to official records.
Oneta’s counsel argued that Jakstys was ‘being coached by Dr Miliauskas who was listening to the case on the video link’.
In court, when asked whether someone had assisted him in preparing the witness statement, Jakstys ‘finally admitted that Dr Miliauskis as well as his current solicitor assisted him’.
On the smart glasses use, Judge Agnello said: ‘Mr Jakstys was being assisted or coached in his replies to questions put to him during cross examination until this was stopped.
‘Not only have I held that Mr Jakstys was untruthful in denying his use of the smart glasses and his calls to Abra Kadabra, but the effect of this is that his evidence is unreliable and untruthful.’
Before the metadata could be retrieved from his phone by the court, Jakstys told his barrister, Christopher Green that he had ‘been robbed of his two mobile phones and his passport’, but ‘no copy of a police report was produced’.
Dismissing the case, Judge Agnello stated: ‘I reject Mr Jakstys evidence in its entirety…He had a blatant disregard for the signing of the disclosure certificate and carrying out his disclosure obligations.
‘I do not consider that what is set out in his witness statements is actually his evidence in accordance with the statement of truth he signed.’