FROM SANDHURST TO PRISON

NZ Truth, Issue 1168, 19 April 1928, Page 6

FROM SANDHURST TO PRISON

Ex-Secret Service Officer Gaoled For Assaulting Young Girls BOGUS EARL'S ADVENTUROUS CAREER (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) Product of Harrow and Sandhurst, officer of a regiment of Imperial Hussars, member of the Imperial Secret Service, artist and bogus earl—these are the qualifications and achievements of Percy Edward Whittall, a middle-aged man, who is now serving a sentence of three years' reformative detention on two charges of indecently assaulting two young girls on the beach and at his room m Dunedin.

■firFIITTAXiLi has a most remarkable VV history and It is very apparent that he was Intended for a brilliant career. Whether fate unkindly Implanted In his make-up the seed of perverted impulse, or whether his present weakness Is due to a head wound he received while fighting with Kitchener at Omdurman, only a highly- skilled specialist with a life-long knowledge of Whittall could determine. Nothing was adduced during the court proceedings to Indicate any criminal inclination prior to his escapade m the service of Britain's great general, but Immediately afterwards he came to New Zealand and embarked on a career of crime which eventually caused him to be branded an habitual criminal. Coming of a good English family, Whittall was originally intended for the Navy, but after his schooling at Harrow, one of England's noted seats of learning, he was sent to Sandhurst, where the foundations of most of the Empire's greatest fighting leaders have been laid.

To those who haoe gone to their glory Whose fame shall extend In sculpture, m song and m story For years without end. * Those who have gained their station By right that they died In making New Zealand a Nation Whose fame is world wide On the scroll of our heroes m gladness The light shall be shed And We hail more m glory than sadness The grades of our dead April 25 ih, 1928. ■-Jjijfe

Whittall, it is said, proved an apt pupil, his keen sense of strategy and quick perception being the principal factors m his success at this "famous training establishment. Whittall's success as a military cadet was noted by his superiors and he became attached to a regiment of Hussars as sub-lieutenant. It was while training with this unit that he was drafted for service with Kitchener's Army m the River Wars of the late 'nineties. According to his own story, Whittall was injured m the head during a skirmish with the Dervishes and was invalided home. The following year he decided to try his luck m a new land overseas. He arrived m New Zealand m 1899. | iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiii

It Is significant that prior to his war injury Whittall had an unblemished career. 'Whether the injury was the cause of any mental aberration no one will ever fathom, but the commencement of his career of crime coincided with his arrival m New Zealand, the land m which he sought renewed health. After various escapades m Christchurch and Nelson, Whittall went to Auckland, where — poeing alternately as Lord Northesk, Captain De Courcy and the Earl of Radnor — he was arraigned on five charges of forging and uttering cheques for which he had received cash and goods. Whittall, who was then described by the daily press as a fashionablydressed young man, posed as an "English gentleman" to various land agents and tradespeople.

From one of the latter he purchased £90 worth of furniture, for which he tendered a cheque for £100 signed "Radnor."

When questioned by the dealer, Whittall stated that although he was

known as De Courcy (hia family name), he was, under the British peerage, the Earl of Radnor. The remarks of the judge (the late Mr. Justice Edwards) and the sentence he imposed have a significant reference to Whittall's likely mentality at that time. The Crimea, his honor observed, were ridiculous m the extreme and the accused gained very little by his deeds. Strutting- about m his borrowed plumes, he did nothing more than get himself into trouble. The whole circumstances were of such a comical nature that his honor felt justified m allowing a little leniency and accused was sentenced to eighteen months' Imprisonment. This was the view of a learned judge on the serious crime of forgery, conveying the obvious impression that to some extent his honor considered Whittall was not responsible for his actions. [ The bogus earl was not destined ! to keep free of the fetters of justice. In 1908, for further delinquencies, he was declared an habitual criminal. Following his release from prison, ■Whittall, apparently having learned the folly of his ways and the utter futility of violating the law, made a fresh start m life. When the call of Empire came he enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces and served m France. Though he has said little of his experiences during the last campaign, it is known that he subsequently became attached to the Secret Service Department. On his return to the Dominion, he was recognized by a hospital nurse who had come m contact with him while he was serving his country as one of its intelligence officers. Wounded m one of the later engagements, Whittall was invalided home to New Zealand as a cot case and entered one of the Auckland hospitals for recuperating purposes. Here his skill as an artist became known and he was engaged to paint the mural decorations for the Auckland provincial court at the Dunedin and South Seas Exhibition. Whittall thereafter settledjin the southern city and while an ( pimate

of the Montecillo Home he earned a pittance as an artist. Much of his work was very favorably commented upon, his forceful brushwork, feeling for mood and sense of color disclosing the skilled soldiercraftsman m his true temperamental atmosphere. j For the past six months Whittall ha 3 been living alone and he frequently spent his many leisure hours In the gardens and at the beaches, where he interested himself by amusing the children on the swings and similar forma of juvenile entertainment. Two of his young friends, it was stated m court, ran messages for him and paid frequent visits to his room, where Wlhittall — himself a father — forced his' base impulses and desires upon his unsuspecting and Innocent guests. Whittall cam© before Mr. Justice Sim at Dunedln for sentence, having pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault on two young girls, both under the age of nine years. Lawyer C. J. Xi. White, for the accused, said Whittall had been examined

since the lower court proceedings by Dr. Evans, who stated that although he was not normal, he knew perfectly well what he was doing. To some extent, said counsel, it seemed to be a case of mental breakdown, as the man had developed a mania for assaulting little children. Counsel added that the Rev. Brian King, who had taken a personal interest m Whittall's case, had requested him to ask his honor to recommend the prisons board to keep accused's mental state under close observation. His honor declared that it was advisable to detain the accused and sentenced him to three years' reformative detention.