REGRET EXPRESSED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 140, 26 March 1930, Page 5

REGRET EXPRESSED.

STATEMENT IN NEWSPAPER. RUMANIAN COMPENSATED. (United Press Association —Copyright.) (Received This Day, 9.55 a.m.) LONDON, March 25. The "Evening Standard" lodged an appeal against the decision of the King's Bench division,, awarding Barbu Jonesco, a Rumanian, £I2,UW damages for libel. It was announced m Court, to-dav, however that appellants would consent to dismissal with costs, and expressed regret at the annoyance caused to Jonesco. x A similar action against the Daily Express" has been settled, defendants paying a sum in compensation, and giving an indemnity as to costs Defendants' counsel stated that it was now recognised that the source oi information which inspired the articles alleging; that Jonesco was not a Rumanian but a Pole, was "something worse than mere unreliable"

A London cablegram, dated February. 20, stated: After 13 days' hearing before the King's Bench, the Rumanian, Barbu Jonesco, who was Prince Carol S host during the Prince's stay in England, was aAvarded £12.000 damages in a libel case against the "Evening Standard," whiph had alleged that his name originally was not Jonesco, and that he was'not really a Rumanian, but a Pole, who went to England with Belgian refugees in the war time. Jonesco's counsel said that his client was respected and prosperous until the allegation, after which people regarded him as an imposter, resutling in his bankruptcy. Lengthy evidence, much ot which was' on commission, was brought from Rumania to support the declaration that plaintiff's name was always Jonesco and that he was born in 1880. A nlea of justification was entered for'the defence, which alleged that Jonesco's name was Moritz Lieba, and that he was born in 1891, his father being of Polish descent. The costs of the case are estimated at £20,000. \ cable message received from London on May 18, 1928, stated that the ex-Crown Prince Carol of Rumania left Dover for Belgium the previous day. His departure from Goldstone Avas the occasion of a "wild goose chase," in which all the English newspapers were hoodwinked. A motor-car piled with luggage suddenlv dashed through the gateway of M. Jonesco's house. "That is the prince," shouted the police. Ten waiting cars, the occupants of which included a French detective, a representative of the French Government, a number of agents of Foreign' Powers and English and foreign journalists, dashed off in pursuit. The car tore along at a speed of 60 miles an hour. The chase continued through the dense traffic of London as far as Hyde Park corner, where the chased oar stopped. The blinds were run up and the car was found to contain a friend of Carol. In the meantime the Prince, with no attempt at secrecy., had entered another car and sped toward Dover.