THE team fighting for the freedom of York air enthusiast Andy Jenkins today laid out their defence against charges of espionage and conspiracy.

Representatives of the 12 plane spotters, who were arrested at Kalamata air base in November after looking at warplanes, spoke out at a press conference in London, ahead of their trial, which is due to begin on April 24.

They are charged with illegally gathering secret information from Greek military bases and airfields.

But the husband-and-wife team who led the group, Paul and Lesley Coppin, insisted the information they gathered was already available to the public.

Mr Coppin said: "We are charged with gathering secret information. I have in my possession a book, 20 years old, which has most of the information in it. Much of it is easily accessible on the Internet."

Lesley, who said the case was "blighting their lives", added: "We have asked time and again to see the evidence that shows we recorded secret information, but we have been given nothing. They say we took photos but cannot produce them."

Richard Howitt, the MEP who has campaigned on behalf of the group, said: "We have maintained all along that these people were completely innocent and should never have been arrested in the first place. It is critical that we send out the message that the 12 have our full support.

"We know that the Greek judiciary will be watching closely to see how much sympathy and attention this case is attracting."

He called for a repeat of the "phenomenal" support given to the plane-spotters when they were arrested last year.

Their lawyer, Ioannis Zacharias, said: "We will prove that the few details that they did record are all facts which have been widely published in the past, and can in no way be regarded as secret.

"The aim is to get these charges dropped altogether."

The trial is expected to last between one and two days. If convicted, the group members face up to five years in jail.

Updated: 15:16 Friday, April 12, 2002