LEY-ON IS A HAPPY MAN

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 14067, 23 May 1946, Page 6

LEY-ON IS A HAPPY MAN

restaurateur, film star and racehorse owner FINED £SO FOR BREACH OF FOOD ORDERS Ah On Ley—Ley-On, the Sohorestaurateur, film star, and racehorse owner —i s q. happy man, although he has been fined £SO. . For Ley-On .was given a warm welcome by his 38 Chinese waiters and chefs when he returned from the Old Ba'iley after pleading guilty to obtaining ten sacks of rice contrary to Food Orders. Mr Derek Curtis Bennett, K.C., for Ley-On, told the judge that the rice was acquired “to relieve pains in the stomachs of his Chinese staff who coiiild not get on without it.’’ In his Wardour Street restaurant Ley-On—he was featured in “49th Parallel,” “Life and Death,” and “Leave It To Me” —sard: “For nine months rice has been unobtalinable here, and my staff have suffered from tummy troubles. One died -because he could not get rice, while another two are ill with similar complaint, “They do not like potatoes and bread because they are too starchy. So, at my wits’ end to find rice for them, I accepted the ten sacks.” Ley-On came to London 28 years ago a poor man. Now. at 48, he owns the racehorses Corner Boy, Roberts Bridge, and Cripple C.eek. Det.-Sgt. Compton said in court that Ley had the highest character and reputation. The Ministry of Food had never previously made or heard any complaint against him. Judge McClure said he accepted Ley's story that he acquired the rice to help his Chinese staff. “For six mouths this case has been worrying me, but now I am a happy man,Ley-On said.