A BORN ROMANCER

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 98, 27 April 1935, Page 25

A BORN ROMANCER

Described by the police as a "born romancer," a Durham miner, who was stated' to have invented experiences with such care and ingenuity that he almost convinced Himself .of their truth, stood his trial at Durham Assizes recently, when Holand Llewellyn : • Fishiyick,'aged 32, of: Horden Colliery, : was remanded in.custody on a charge ,of public, mischief.. < ■ .., "v The charge was a sequel to a .remarkable .affair at Signing Bank, Horden, \vhere Fishwick shot himself and alleged "in a dying'deposition" that he had been shot ,by a man who had left ■ him for dead after robbing'him. ;'■', Mr. Hilton Foster, prosecuting, told : the Court that Fishwick, who had been secretary of a rifle club, bought a'rifle of low calibre.'' Mr., Foster suggested that the exploit was carried out through a desire for notoriety and good favour. It nearly, however, resulted in Fishwick's death. It was revealed that

Fishwick's story caused police inquiries extending over two weeks, costing several hundred pounds. ■ .Fishwick's closest friends recognised that for years he had told lies for'no apparent reason, and without any desire to harm anybody or do himself any good. On one occasion Fish wick wrote to, a former army colleague in India, then at Catterick; giving a most detailed account' of his "experiences" in New Zealand and Australia—countries which he had never been near. : Dr. W. S. Dixon, of Hordeh, stated that' Fishwick had suffered from malaria, and this, together with the effects of having been buried under a fall iin a pit, rendered him liable on occasions to be not responsible for his actions. For the defence Mr. F. Leslie submitted that there had been no deJiberatp intention on the part of Fishwick to; cause *a public mischief. His actions were rather 'the delirious ravings of a sick man." r ; ■ ( -