SON OF V.C. FINED

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 March 1939, Page 7

SON OF V.C. FINED

PISTOL UNDER PILLOW. LONDON, January 30. Captain James Robert White, son of the late Field Marshal Sir George White, V.C., was fined £25, with £•> 5/- costs, at Marylebone for possessing firearms and ammunition without certificates. It was stated that the summons against Captain White arose out of a similar charge against Frank Phillip Gordon Hurley Beresford, 25, a salesman and scenic artist, of Westbourne Square, W. Beresford now appeared on remand, and was fined £5. Mr Maxwell Turner, prosecuting said that on January 19 the police found at Beresford’s room a Webley revolver and 14 rounds of ammunition and a loaded automatic pistol, which was under the pillow.

In a full statement, continued Mr Turner, Beresford said that Captain White was a friend of his family in Ireland. When they met in London Captain White employed him as his secretary and to look after his son. At the end of October. Captain White went to Ireland, and Beresford, according to his statement, took the weapons to his own room for safety.

Detective Inspector Stevenson mentioned that the case had no relation to Irish Republican activities. Captain White had declared himself to be an Ulster Protestant.

Replying to the Magistrate, Mr L. R. Dunne, Captain White said: “I had very good reasons for possessing them. One was that I have a fairly big place in County Antrim, with valuable silver in it. I am frequently there alone.” Captain White, who mentioned the possibility of an appeal, was advised to see a solicitor. He was given 14 days in which to pay his fine, and an order for the confiscation of arms and ammunition was made.