On March 30, 1870, a group of foreign tourists, among them the British Lord Mancaster and his wife, the secretaries of the British and Italian embassies and their companions were kidnapped by a gang of Arvanitaki robbers.
The robbers demanded a £25,000 ransom and amnesty to free their prisoners. Eventually they freed the lord and all the women. The Zaimis government at the time agreed to give the money, but not to grant amnesty, since this was against the constitution which provided for the granting of amnesty only for political offenses and not for common criminal law offences.
The robbers later demanded £32,000 and then £50,000. The British then put pressure on the government, openly declaring that they were not interested in the provisions of the Greek constitution. The Greek government tried to negotiate with the bandits, giving them money and allowing them to leave the country.
But the robbers insisted on the amnesty and finally, when a pursuit party approached them, they did not hesitate to massacre their prisoners. The news of the massacre caused an incredible attack by "enlightened" Europe against Greece. Especially the British newspapers did not stop calling Greece "a den of bandits, a country of half-Slavs, half-Greeks and half-barbarians" and to consider all Greeks responsible for the incident.
Alongside the defamatory campaign, open threats were also made for military intervention by Britain, France and Italy in Greece and the occupation of strategic points on its territory! Fortunately for Greece, the Franco-Prussian War soon broke out and the "protecting" powers turned their attention elsewhere. The Greek government, however, began investigations into the massacre, even reaching strange revelations.
The British landowner of Evia Frank Noel was the employer of the Arvanitaki gang! Based on the evidence, he was the one who supported the robbers in their decision to stick to the amnesty request, in cooperation with opposition circles, so that the Zaimis government would fall! The British ambassador also maintained contacts with the gang!