Man and woman appear in court in Edinburgh on terror charges

A suspicious item was found by a council park ranger on 11 January 2018

A man and a woman have appeared in court in Edinburgh on terrorism charges.

Nikolaos Karvounakis, 35, and Artemis Parissi, 32, were detained in an investigation into the discovery of a suspicious object in a city centre park.

They were charged under terrorism and explosive substances legislation.

Both were remanded in custody following a short private appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Karvounakis and Artemis, who both live in the city, entered no plea to allegations that they breached section 57 (1) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The legislation states that a person has committed "an offence if he possesses an article in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that his possession is for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism."

They also entered no plea to a charge of section 3 of the 1883 Explosive Substances Act.

Suspicious object

This legislation states that it is an offence for anybody to use an "explosive substance to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, whether or not any explosion actually takes place."

The pair also entered no plea to an allegation of breach of the peace.

Their detention is said to be in connection with an incident in which Police Scotland were called to a report of a suspicious object at a shelter in Princes Street Gardens on Thursday 11 January, 2018.

Another court appearance in connection with the charges will take place within the next eight days.

UPDATE: The charges against Artemis Parissi were later dropped by the Crown Office. Nikolaos Karvounakis was subsequently jailed for eight years.