“All behaviour has a biological basis – but without the social context it doesn’t make sense. Social factors are obviously critical.”I don’t object to this research but the danger is people make too much of it Biological reductionism has a long history. It is the idea you can reduce things to biology without considering all the other things that go on after birth. I suspect Adrian Raine does not dispute that but this grabs the headlines because people are looking for a simple explanation for crime.”Yet Dr Raine is convinced that eradicating complications at birth – and the reduction of grey matter that could result – would have a serious impact in tackling violent crime and anti-social behaviour..

Owners of second homes abroad tend to have a financial status that is irritatingly elusive. The Dordogne, the Algarve and Andalucia have long seemed no-go areas to your “average” person – the exclusive provenance of those made rich by City bonuses. Owners of second homes abroad tend to have a financial status that is irritatingly elusive. The Dordogne, the Algarve and Andalucia have long seemed no-go areas to your “average” person – the exclusive provenance of those made rich by City bonuses.
But I hadn’t reckoned on Crete, which has stubbornly remained cheap, particularly in the east. Taking time off from a holiday there, I discovered that you can buy a traditional, three-room house – admittedly in need of renovation – for £5,000.A bigger one, in good enough nick to live in, costs £12,000, while a nine-room, 16th-century Venetian tower in the hills above Rethymnon would be around £100,000. Perhaps this pad in the sun game was more egalitarian than I’d thought.Eric and Angie Baker quelled their fears and bought a tumble-down pile just outside Elounda for 5.5m drachma (£12,000). Over drinks on their new roof terrace, they explained it was Crete’s superb walking country that had swung it.

They have just completed £20,000-worth of renovations.”Buying in Greece is basically easier and quicker than buying in England,” says Mr Baker “But we needed help. The owner tried to raise the price after the sale had been agreed. Luckily we knew someone out here who had already bought in Crete, and they sorted it out.”The Bakers bought through Crete Property Consultants, which has 150 or so houses on its books at any one time. Owner Oonagh Karanjia had her fingers burnt when she bought a ruin eight years ago and now happily offers free add-on advice to her clients.That involves putting potential purchasers in touch with her representatives in Crete who, in turn, recommend lawyers, local builders and electricians for renovations.Cash purchases are the name of the game – Greek mortgages don’t really exist.

Ms Karanjia estimates that the conveyancing and other costs of a property in Crete work out at no more than 10 per cent of the selling price. Most places are cheap so fees don’t make a hole in the pocket.Most British people come on a speculative visit combined with a holiday. If a property catches their eye, she recommends they set the wheels in motion by giving a lawyer power of attorney to conduct a search before they go home.Typically, on a Dr12m house, the search fee costs Dr60,000, power of attorney Dr50,000, notary fees Dr125,000, lawyer’s fees Dr50,000, house of contracts agreement Dr25,000 and purchase tax Dr120,000. A survey and paying an accountant to get you a tax number on top of that brings the conveyancing bill to about Dr550,000.Running costs are cheap too. A solar panel (costing about Dr110,000 to install) cuts electricity bills drastically. There are no rates to pay as such and, bizarrely, the cost of rubbish collection and the TV licence are lumped in with the electricity bill, which for a three-bedroomed house came to Dr10,895 in winter.Water rates are Dr79,950 a year at the most Telephone rental and calls are about the same as in the UK.