History was made in Cyprus yesterday when, for the first time, a helicopter played an active part in the arrest of a man suspected of being involved in the hooting of a member of the Security Forces. RAF Corporal P.J. Hale was shot dead yesterday morning by a gunman near Nicosia airport. He is the 28th servicemen to fall a victim to terrorists bullets. An arrest for the murder was made in dramatic circumstances.

The pilot of a helicopter, summoned to the scene, saw a man on the branch of an acacia tree, landed near it, and detained the man who was eventually taken into custody by men of the RAF regiment who had been called out to search for the terrorists. The shooting of Corporal Hale occurred almost immediately after two members of the Security Forces had given drinks of water to two youths.

Official accounts state that shortly before 11.30am, yesterday, two young men approached a hut on the perimeter of Nicosia Airfield. Inside the hut were two members of the Security Forces who were only too ready, as so many soldiers, sailors and airmen have been in similar circumstances, to give the youths the drink of water for which they asked. It was the sort of thing which the Forces are doing all over the Island and the sort of treatment they themselves are receiving on so many occasions

When the youth began to walk after away their drinks, the two members of the Security Forces returned to work. One of them was sitting at his desk, when three shots were fired through the window of the hut. He was killed instantly, but his comrade gave the alarm.

About a hundred yards away a soldier heard the shots and saw three men running away. Giving chase, he as joined by another soldier and about a mile form the scene of the murder, two men were arrested.

Within a few minutes of the shooting, the RAF had alerted a helicopter which took off from the airfield and helped in the search in which members of an airfield working party had joined. Some shots were fired at the escaping men, but none hit them. Shortly after the arrest of the first two men, the pilot of the helicopter, whose name, for security reasons cannot be disclosed, circling over the area, saw a man hiding in a tree.

He immediately landed his craft close by the while RAF men took the men into custody. He is reported to have said that he was in the tree to look for birds. He was put into the helicopter and flown back to the airfield for questioning.The three men were later handed over to the civil Police who are continuing injuries. At the same time some 300 other members of the Security Forces are engaged in searching for weapons which, it is thought, might have been thrown away by the men during their flight.

 Since the murder on Wednesday of Corporal Hale of the RAF while he was on duty on the outskirts of the airport, an intensive search went on over a wide area of heathland for the weapons used by his assailants.

As long as there was light men of the Royal Warwicks, the South Staffords, the RAF and the Police combed the open country west of the airport. During Wednesday night the whole area was picqueted.

Yesterday the searches were rewarded: about a mile from the "homer" hut - a navigational aid station - where Corp. Hale was shot, two 38 pistols were found. Both, an official statement said, appeared to have been fired.

Within two minutes of Wednesday's shooting three young Greek Cypriots were arrested: two while running across the heath about a mile for the hut, and the third up a tree-spotted by the crew of a searching helicopter.

It was learned yesterday that Corporal Hale was the father of a three-year-old boy. His widow, who is living in Nicosia, is expecting a second child in about a month's time.

After the murder of Corporal at the RAF Station, Nicosia on May 16, three youths of Paleometocho village, near Nicosia, came to trial before Mr Justice B.V. Shaw in the Nicosia Assizes, yesterday accused of discharging a firearm at Corporal Patrick J. Hale.

They are Michael Kyriakou Koutsottas, 2, Paraskevas Georghio Hiropoulis, 18, and Andreas Gregori Panaghides, 22. Corporal Hades was shot dead through the head as he was working in the VHF/DF Homer hut. Eight witnesses were heard yesterday and the case continues today. It is expected to last a few days.

Detective Sergeant Peter Refoy, attached to Police Headquarters, produced a bullet which he said was given to him at the Military Hospital, Nicosia, when he attended Hale's post-mortem. He added that the bullet was found in the skull. Squadron Leader C.I.T. Cruikshank, the RAF Medical officer, said that when he was called to the Homer hut he found Hale dead. He said that a superficial examination showed the man had died from a bullet wound in the head.

The cause of death was confirmed by Captain J.L. Turk of the Army Medical Corps who said that the bullet was lodged in Hale's brain. Senior Superintendent of Police Mr F.W. Bird who took charge of the weapons and ammunition after the killing, said that ballistic tests showed the bullet found in Hale's head and the other ammunition found showed clearly that they were freed from the revolvers on the aerodrome after the shooting.

Police Inspector Sophocles Kaminarides who conducted an identification parade at Nicosia police station on May 24 said that some of the witnesses pointed out one or all of the three men on trail. One witness pointed out another man. Cross examined by Mr Michalskis Triantafillides for the Defence, Inspector Kaminarides said that there were nine people at the parade.He admitted that the other six were Turks and that one of the three men, Koutsoftas, wore clothes issued to him from the police stores.

"His clothes were taken away," he said.

Two Turkish police sergeants described how bullets and a revolver were found in the area on the day after the shooting.

The RAF Security Officer and a warrant officer pilot told the Nicosia Special Assizes yesterday of how they chased and captured three youths accused of shooting at Corporal Patrick J. Hale at RAF Nicosia on May 16.

The three men who face the death penalty are Michael Kyriakou Koutsoftas, 22, Paraskevas Georghiou Hiropoulis, 18, and Andreas Gregori Panahides, 22, all of Paleometocho, a village near the Airport.

Flight Lieutenant Revers Stanley, the RAF Security Officer, said that when he went to the Homer hut after a "Flash Call" he found Corporal Hale dead in the hut.

He said, "When I was told what had happened I drove in a westerly direction, with Corporal Scurfield.

"When we drove about a mile I saw two figures some 700 yards in front on my left. One wore a bluish green shirt and dark trousers and the other had a white shirt and dark bluish trousers.

"I think they saw us because one of them turned around and then they all quickened their paces and I lost sight of them.

"I saw them again further down the path I saw driving. I stopped the car, got out and shouted loudly, "Stamata". There was no response.

"I took a rifle from one of the men with me and fired at the youth with the blue shirt. He fell. The other youth also dropped won. I thought I had hit him. The other youth also dropped down.

"I called for my Corporal and we went towards the men. The man with the blue shirt rose and came towards us shouting what I took to mean "Don't shoot". He is Panaghides.

"The man in the white shirt got up and ran away.

"I shot. It missed. I shot again.

Stanley said that two pistols were found the next day, one of them in a bush.

Warrant Officer Alexander Goodall of the RAF Regiment said that it was on the instruction of Flight Lieutenant Stanley he searched the area.

He found Hiropoulis in a hawthorn tree. He was wearing a khaki shirt, brownish trousers and reddish-brown shoes.

"I ordered him down twice before he eventually came down.

"Private Glasgow was with me. He searched the youth but found nothing.

"He was put in a helicopter and taken away."

Detective Inspector Edmond Clive, last prosecution witness, said that on May 17th day after the shooting, he found two revolvers in the area near the Homer hut. One, he said, was in the fields and the others in a bush.

He added, "There were six empty cases in one revolver and five in the other".

The case continues this morning.

A fingerprint expert, Detective-Inspector William Turton, told a Nicosia Assize Court yesterday afternoon that the fingerprints he found on a drinking glass on May 16 and those taken from Andreas Panaghides, one of three Greek Cypriots in the dock, were made by one and the same hand.

Earlier, Leading Aircraftman John Colling told the Court how Corporal Patrick Hale, of the Royal Air Force, was shot dead in a hut near the airport after three young men who had been cutting corn had called in at the hut several times and asked for drinks of water.

In the dock were three Greek Cypriot youths, all of Paleometocho village, charged with shooting Hale on may 16. It was the second day of their trial by Mr Justice Shaw.

They are: Michael Kyriakos Koutsoftas, 22, Paraskevas Georghiou Hiropoulis, 18, and Andreas Gregori Panaghides, 22.

In the witness box, Colling said he reached the hut, known as a "homer" and used for navigational aid, at 7.30 am. Hale was with him. The Hut had three windows and one door.

At about 8 am, three youths came and asked for water. They were working in a neighboring field, cutting corn. Hale took them out water-each had a glass in turn. The three were the accused. Koutsoftas was holding a scythe.

They were working at the end of a cornfield about 100 or 150 yards from the hut. An hour later they came again and asked for water. The same procedure was followed. This time, however, they sat in the shade of the hut for nearly half an hour and then went back to their work.

"At 10.20 I left the hut and went to the pay parade", Colling said.

"I came back at 10.45 and found Hale there. Some minutes later I noticed the accused Panaghides leaving the place they were cutting corn and going southwards. Ten minutes later the other two left in the same direction.

"Half an hour later I saw Koutsoftas and Hiropoulis looking into the hut through the north window. They made signals that they wanted a drink.

"Hale got the glass and went outside. He came back half a minute later and sat down on a chair, facing the door.

"Then I heard some shots coming through the west window. I saw Hale drop to the floor as if wounded, and I also fell to the floor.

"I glanced through the other window and saw some RAF Signals men running towards the hut.

"One of them stayed with me while the other went on chasing the accused.

"Six minutes later the ambulance and the Security officer arrived on the spot"

Colling said that at an identification parade in Nicosia he recognized the three accused.

Colling was cross-examined by Mr Glafkos Clerides and Mr Mich. Triantafylides, for the defence.

In the afternoon Police Sergeant George Myrianthus said he took Panaghide's fingerprints.

Turnton told the Court he went to the hut where the shooting took place and examined a drinking glass. On it were fingerprints. The print of the right thumb was similar to that of Panaghides's right thumb. A shepherd, Yiakoumis Poullou pictured left, said he heard some shooting, and 15 minutes later saw some soldiers coming towards him. "I was afraid", he said, "Just then someone took hold of my sheepskin bag, but I did not know who it was as I was looking at the soldiers. The case continues today.

The scene of the airport murder will be visited this morning by Mr Justice X. V. Shaw, Crown Counsel Mr Gosling and the Defence Counsels Messrs G. Cleridies, M. Triantafillides, T. fanos and R. Lyssiotis.

They will go to the Homer hut at the RAF Station, Nicosia, where Corporal Patrick J. Hale was shot dead on May 16.

The Crown concluded its case in the Nicosia Special Asizes yesterday, and the Defence will start this morning after the court returns to Nicosia.

The trials of Michael Kyriakou Koutsoftas, Paraskevas Georghious Hiropoulis and Andreas Gregori Panaghides, all of Paleometocho village, near the airport, who are charged with shooting Corporal Hale, is expected to last for another few days.

Michael Koutsoftas, aged 22, and Andreas Panaghides, 22, were sentenced to death at Nicosia Special Assizes yesterday for the shooting of Corporal Patrick J. Hale at RAF Nicosia on May 16.

Paraskevas Hiropoulis, 18, who was also on trial for the same charge, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The three prisoners sang the Greek national anthem as they were led away from the courtroom.

Earlier in the court they shouted "God is great" in unison as the judge passed sentence. In his two hours reserved judgment, Mr Justice Shaw analyzed the whole case and the arguments of both Crown and Defence. The three youths maintained to the end that they were innocent.

The judge said, "The circumstances of Hale's killing show that the murder was cold blooded and carefully planned.

"I am satisfied that you three reconnoitred the position to make sure that the two airmen were unarmed.

"They were in a small hut and completely at your mercy when you shot at them from the window. You killed Hale when you received kindness from him - he had just shared his drinking water with you.

"Yours is an act which must be condemned by all right thinking people.

To Koutsoftas and Panaghides he said that they were responsible for their action and conscious of what they were doing.

To Hiropoulis he said, "You are younger and I think you have acted under their influence and therefore I shall be more merciful to you".

I suppose that all the horror, all the suffering and degradation that murder and its consequences can bring was present outside the Nicosia Special Court in those few minutes shortly after six last night when it was learned by the waiting crowd that two young men had been sentenced to death for shooting Cpl Hale near the Airport and a third to life imprisonment.

I suppose the extremes of love and hate could be felt in those minutes-and the hysteria which their uncontrolled expression means.

It was not a big crowd: perhaps 50 all told, with women and men about equal. There were babies in arms too.

I suppose they had been waiting there most of the afternoon: outside the soldier picketed wire barrier separating the "public" from the court - only the immediate family of the accused could be found room for at the back of the tiny courtroom.

At last the news came like a smack in the face to the crowed-but a smack they had been in no doubt all the afternoon they were going to get: death for the older two, life for the 18-year old.

At once the wailing and the sobbing and the beating of brows began. But the signal for the climactic gush of emotion did not come until the three condemned men were led out of court surrounded by police and troops, to be taken back to the Central Prisons.

On that signal restraint was forgotten - or deliberately thrust aside: while the women screamed and swayed and spread their arms in gestures of crucification, the men and youth cheered and "hoorayed" and clasped their hands as of welcoming the greatest heroes of the age.

For a few moment there was a delirium of mingled agony and jubilation The prisoners were swallowed by the Black Maria: the armed escort of troops moved off.

And the crowd, now swollen by the closest relations who had been in court turned and stumbled away from the court in a torrent of tears.

Women, tottering, wailing, spreading their arms in despair, were supported by their companions; one white-haired old lady was half carried out of the court precincts.

Tough men came away with tears running down their cheeks. Mere lads, faces pale and drawn, looked with detestation at any British they saw near the Commissioner's Office.

Young British soldiers by the dozen escorted them out; youngsters who looked embarrassed by this spectacle of such naked anguish.

It was terrible, it was hideous-and yet it was somehow one felt, ecstatic.

Of course, there was one grief that was not represented in this tormented scene: the grief of the family of Corporal Hale.

Three Greek Cypriot terrorists were hanged in Nicosia Central Prison early today as the Prison rang with frenzied wails and yells from other prisoners, reports Reuter.

The executions took place barely three hours after the Governor Field-Marshal Sir John Harding had turned down an appeal by the men's lawyers for clemency.

One of the lawyers said afterwards that when he and his colleagues went to the cells to tell the men the result of their appeal he heard them singing national songs.

He said the men-Stelios Mavromatis 25, Michael Koutenftos 22; and Andreas Panayides 22-listened to us in complete calm.

Mavromatis was sentenced to death for shooting at two British airmen last March and the other two men were sentenced for killing a Royal Air Force corporal in May.

In Famaguala last night three members of the security forces were slightly injured when terrorists threw three bombs at British military vehicles.