AMAZING PERSONALITY

Evening Star, Issue 22631, 24 April 1937, Page 19

AMAZING PERSONALITY

PUNTER AND HIS BETS ' | CHAMPAGNE FOR BOOKMAKERS Sentenced at Chertsey, Surrey, re* cently, to six months’ hard labour, for obtaining £IOO from a .bookmaker by false pretences, George Arthur Davis, - described as a professional punter, of Virginia Water, is a little man with a big personality. Among the prosaic statements »madu in court, for instance, were that he had entertained with champagne, liqueurs, and cigars, and endeavoured “to create an atmosphere of wealth” , by having his bets recorded in newspapers, offered £IO,OOO each .for twn greyhounds; and lost the biggest cash? • bet ever recorded for . a dog face at Wimbledon, and paid over the money “ like chicken-feed.” Always immaculately dressed, and describing himself as an ex-jockey who had done most of his riding abroad for a well-known German nobleman, Davis made a point of cultivating the acquaintance of the leading owners and trainers on London dog tracks. THOUSANDS WAGERED. His smallness of stature and his slim build supported his claim to have been a jockey, while his lavish entertaining and heavy wagering soon mads him an outstanding figure. Within a few weeks he was accepted as a man of wealth and standing, while his habit of settling up his losses immediately added to his reputation. Hi» bets were usually in hundreds of pounds, occasionally in thousands. Apart from spectacular wagers in November, when he lost £990 on Wattla Bark and a week later won £1,400 to £2,600 on Safe- Rock, he had big accounts with several bookmakers. With’ one man alone his bets amounted to nearly £3,000 within a few days. His offers of £IO,OOO each for two greyhounds were made for Fine Jubilee, winner of the Greyhound Derby, and Ataxy, another classic winner. Ah that time he did not own any greyhounds, ' hut stated he wanted to buy them for , his wife. £IO,OOO FOR GREYHOUND. He first offered Mrs .Yates, owner of Fine Jubilee, £4,000. for the dog, but when she refused to sell ho increased the offer to £IO,OOO. When asked about these offers during! the court proceedings he admitted that at the time he made them he had only a little over £IOOO in his hanking account, but added that if -the offers had been accepted he would have obtained the money. So keen was he on getting Ataxy that he gave his luxuri-. ously furnished bungalow at Virginia Water the same name. It was there that on more than one occasion he entertained bookmakers who expressed doubts about his ability - to pay if he lost any of his big wagers* Always they came away impressed—* and usually accepted other big bets. “ Although very small and almost' insignificant-looking, i Davis certainly has an amazing personality,” an acquaintance told the ‘ News of ths World.’ “He was always faultlessly dressed, and his entertainment was on the grand scale. I have never been in his company unless he ordered /champagne. Ordinary bottles, were no good to him—he always sent fpr magnUms. VERY CONFIDENT. “ Ono night Davis had a bet of £2OO with a well-known bookmaker. ‘When the dog lost he went straight up to tha bookmaker and gave him a cheque, remarking that he never' liked to owe even until the next day. Later tha same evening ho won £4OO on one bell from the same man, and collected iii straightway in cash, i ' ■ > “ By this time he considered himself so well-established that he asked one or two of the largest and best-known bookmakers to give him, credit of £I,OOO “ Even then nobody knew who he wa* or where he, had come from. He appeared to be on excellent. terms with’ well-known people, and apparently had money to burn. _ 1 “ Finally complaint arose about bis betting transaction, and 1 the Chertsey prosecution followed. _ \ ■ “So confident was Davis that 'ho would not be convicted, that he drove his own car to the court in the belief that he would be able to drive it away again after the proceedings.” DOG DOPED? Davis’s bank manager stated ini court that his account had' always ' been in credit, sometimes as much a* £1,574, and had been thoroughly satisfactory in every way. ■ • ... Without hearing the evidence for tha defence, the magistrates dismissed a charge of fraudulently incurring a liability of £IOO. ■ , Davis, in the witness box, agreed ha made his living by betting, and stated he owed money to bookmakers id Bournemouth, although he alleged they owed him considerably more. , He declared that the dog on which he laid nearly £I,OOO was doped.. After being sentenced Davis made a dramatic dash for freedom as he was taken from court. Chased _by threa policemen, he was eventually headed off by a cyclist and recaptured. (