CAREER OF CRIME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19738, 10 September 1927, Page 2 (Supplement)

CAREER OF CRIME.

A YOUNG MAN'S FRAUDS. IN AND OUT OF PRISON. GOOD SERVICE AT THE WAR. AN AWARD FOR GALLANTRY, i Once again, after a remarkable career | of Irauu exteudwg ovar 2o years, the sou ] of a oue-tune piomment, Lnglisu liunts- ! man, linus himself behind puson walls. 1 lie is Marcus Philip Prescott Barthropp, [ aged 49, who has been sentenced to three I months' imprisonment by the Westminster magistrate for one of his favourite cheque frauds, on this occasion worked I upon the Army and Navy Stores. Ho [ has not only figured in the criminal I courts, but was also defendant in a | divorce action, which was,the sequel to ■ a marriage ho contracted with a ward in Chancery in 1905. ! Barthropp, who was born at Ipswich, had all the advantages of a good education. It was after the termination of the South African war in 1902, when he was but 24 years of age, that he first came under the notice of the police in the Piccadilly district. Aided by his smart appearance, he then posed as an ex-officer of the South African Field Force, and pretended that a considerable sum of money was due to him from the British Governmaut. Fie drew cheque forms on blank paper, purporting to bo payable at the War Office. He induced tradesmen- and others to cash them, saying he had temporarily run short of ready money. The drafts were repudiated, as was Barthropp, who at that time had not served in the Army. On several occasions lie paid hotel bills with cheques drawn on his father's solicitors, after having consumed expensive dinners, and in March, 1903, he was sentenced to four months' imprisonment for obtaining monev bv means of worthless cheques. Convictions for other similar frauds rapidly followed. Extravagance and Bankruptcy. When Barthropp was living at Heme Bay in 1908 financial difficulties overtook him. He went through the Bankruptcy Court, where he admitted that his insolvency was due to extravagant Jiving and his pursuit of pleasure. He stateu in the course of his examination that he was formerly in the office of his father on the Stock Exchange,, and that in 1900 he went big-game shooting in South America and South Africa. Upon his return to England he married, his wife having a settlement of £3OO a year, with prospects of £ISOO in the 'near future. It was in the early days of the war that Barthropp tried to obtain a com-* mission in the Army with a false certificate, for which he was fined £2O. This was a well-prepared piece of forgery, as he was able to produce at the War Office the usual army form of application, which purported that it had been signed by a former Lord Mavor of London as testimony to his good moral character. Later, however, he served in one of the battalions of the London Regiment. His war service proved to be tlio most creditable part of 1m life, and for gallantry on (he field he was awarded the Military Medal. Barthropp's wife successfully petitioned for a divorce in 1915, and she told the Court a story of a summary wedding with Barthropp some six years previously. She related how, shortly after marriage,- when she was onlv 19 years of age, her husband was sentenced at Oxford to eight months' imprisonment for obtaining money by false pretences. When he came out of 'gaol she returned to live with him, but in 1910 he deserted her. Tracing him to an hotel, however, she regained possession of the child of the marriage. During their married life he treated her badly, once creating a scene in a restaurant and assaulting her. He also threatened to shoot her. There was no defence to her allegations against him of cruelty and misconduct. Money by False Pretences. At one time Barthropp was well known in the Aldershot district. There he obtained goods by falsely saying that he was the proprietor of a large boarding house in the district. On one occasion he was arrested at Godalming, where he had persuaded a young woman to part with her money under promise of marriage.. In connection with the last offence for which he was convicted at Westminster, he was stated to have opened an account with the Army and Navy Stores, which he speedily * overdrew. He pretended that he had an account at Barclays Bank at Ipswich, and had lost a cheque for £3O. On the strength of this he made out a cheque form and obtained £2 from the cashier. The magistrate referred to Barthropn's unsatisfactory record, and remarked that it was onlv the fact that he had kept clear of the courts for 10 years that i saved him from heavier sentence.