ALLEGED BLACKMAIL BY BOY OF 16

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 March 1930, Page 4

ALLEGED BLACKMAIL BY BOY OF 16

STORY OF THREATENING LETTER TO WIDOW •'THE SHADE" George Edward Bellingham, 16, of Sudbourne-road, Brixtoli-hill, was at Croydon, committed lor trial on a charge of demanding £5 with menaces from Mrs Kathleen Tucker, a widow, of Hcadcorn-road, Thornton-heath. Beliingham pleaded not guilty, and reserved his defence, reports the "Daily Telegraph." Mr R- -I- Clark, prosecuting, read a letter which, he said, was put through i Mrs Tucker's letter-box on 23rd December, and which was as follows: Dear Madam—l have heard through various sources that your late husband was a bankrupt chemist at Shrewsbury, and if you do not pay me £5 to shut my mouth your life won't be worth living in Hcadcorn-road ... . There was some business about a poisoning case that your husband featured in before you came here. I will send a boy for the money on Tuesday at 12.30, and mind you are in. —(Signed) A Friend. P.S.—The boy will tell you he is from The Shade. Mrs Tucker said that she and her husband went to live in Headcorn-road in 1924, and he died there last August. From November, 1928, the Bellingham family were near neighbours. From time to lime accused went errands for her, and once did a small carpentering job, assisted by a boy named Wren.

There was no truth in the statement. Her husband was never a chemist at Shrewsbury nor was he ever bankrupt or connected in any way with a poisoning case. On Christmas Eve accused called for a pair of socks, which she gave him without answering his Christmas greeting. He said nothing to her about money. Later a boy knocked at the door. Without opening it she called out: "Is anyone there?' There was no

reply and she saw the boy creep away on tiptoe. ALLEGED CONFESSION Detective-sergeant Pearce said that a statement had been signed by Bellingham. ■ In it, Bellingham remitted writing tho letter to Mrs Tucker and putting it through the letter-box. Die statement continued: Lawrie Wren was with me. Wren did the thinking and I did the writing. He told me to do it in a backhand in case somebody recognised it, and told me to wear gloves so that I should not leave finger-prints. It was agreed that he should be lhe Shade, and I was not to be brought into it. It was arranged in the letter that The Shade would call for the £5. I saw Wren on the morning of 24th December, and he said, "I am not going to call." I said, "Oh well, then, let it slop." i owed and still owe to Wren Is 6d. Ho came round and asked me for it. I told him I did not have it at the time. Ho said he was hard up for Christmas, and had an idea how to get some money. He then mentioned that his idea was to write a letter to somebody demanding five quid. In the first place Wren, who is very fond of reading Edgar_ Wallace stories, rushed out a letter similar to the one written to Mrs Tucker, but without any threats. All at once he said: "I know a woman at No. 33. Her husband was a bankrupt and chemist, and was in a poisoning case. How will she do?" or words to that effect. I said, "AH right then." I then wrote the letter, which I afterwards delivered to Mrs Tucker, and we destroyed the rough copy. So far as I know Wren did • not make any attempt after the delivery of the letter to get the money, as I should have expected him to have split the dibs, as ' we had arranged to do. Lawrence Wren, of Northcote-road, Croydon, a young engineer, said that he had known Bellingham since Easter, and last saw him on 20th December at his own house. He had never seen the letter in question until the police ' showed it to him a week ago. lie never 1 dictated or drafted a letter of that nature and had never had any conver- ! sation with Bellingham about obtaining i "£5 or any other sum from Mrs - Tucker.