GUNTER IMPRISONED

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 July 1929, Page 10

GUNTER IMPRISONED

FRAUDS IN LONDON.

LONDON, July 16. Robert Hunter, who impersonated Mr. D. B. Wyndham Lewis, the 1 morous author and contribute! “Daily Mail,” last week, .became the guest of the noted London Pu “ humorist, Mr. A. P. Herbert, has been arrested. . To-day he was sentenced to tweiv months’ gaol for stealing from the actor, Mr. Malcolm Keen, whom he also hoaxed. . Mr. Herbert exposed the man in the London press. , Hunter has been described by the New Zealand police as the most cunning confidence trickster who ever visited New Zealand. It was stated that Hunter’s real name was Gunter, and he recently ieturned from Australia. He was educated at Cambridge University. He was courtmartialled in 1914, when an officer in the Army Service Corps, for having worn decorations to which he was not entitled, including the V.C. He joined the Canadian Forces and became a sergeant-major. After the war he lived on his wits. Ho impersonated titled men and military officers, and once posing as Sir Alan Cobham, the famous airman, ordered w’ine valued at £2OO.

The “Daily Mail” recalls that Hunter is recognised in London clubland and the police in three countries as one of the most daring and skilful tricksters, whose hoaxes and impersonations have been carried out for the last fifteen years. He earned several term of imprisonment. It was a coincidence that - while the paper was warning its readers against Hunter under the nickname of “Scarface,” he should have been impersonating Mr. Wyndham Lewis, one of the “Daily Mail’s” contributors. His exploits include posing as a doctor in famous clubs and hotels in 1923. Later, during the general election, he spoke on behalf of a Conservative candidate in the Midlands, and accompanied a Liberal candidate to Loudon, borrowing £5 to pay for a congratulatory dinner for which someone else paid, impersonated' airmen and drank with Captain W. L. Courtney and Commander Samson. His most amazing exploit was hoaxing Mr. C. Graham-White, the pioneer airman, at Hendon aerodrome, when ho posed as a Lord and introduced a German clerk as the Crown Prince of Wurtemberg. Both enjoyed a free flight, after which Hunter entertained a large party, including a Countess, who took a drive with Hunter in a borrowed Rolls-Royce.

HECTIC CAREER. ■ After Gunter’s famous exploits in ' New Zealand he had a short but hectic career in Sydney, where he arrived by the Marama on February 7, 1928. Posing as “Sir Robert Gunter,” he took rooms at the Hotel Australia. He called at the Town Hall, and in the guise of an expert on traffic matters, made suggestions to members of the Traffic Commission. He also asserted that he was consulting engineer to the London General Omnibus Company and, as such, was interviewed by several Sydney people interested in the com- • pany.

To one inquirer, who had not previously heard of his title, he said that for business purposes he was plain “Mr. Gunter.” He had only been a knight four days. As Sir Robert, however, he gained entree to exclusive social circles. Although he was' not entertained in Sydney as lavishly as he was in Auckland, the bogus knight deceived quite a number of people, and was said to be paying serious attention to a Sydney society girl. His career of deception, during which ho was alleged to have victimised many leading business men, was cut short by his arrest one night in March at the Wentworth Hotel by DetectiveSergeant Wilson and Detective Arnold. “Scarface,” as he is known in London, was sentenced to six months’ hard labour for having obtained a motor-car by means pf a false representation, and in August he was deported. He returned to Auckland, where he addressed one or two public meetings. He then went to the Waikato. Subsequently he left the Dominion for London.