"I NEVER GOT £6000"

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 15

"I NEVER GOT £6000"

"JUDAS ISCARIOT" RETORT EX-BARRISTER IN BANKRUPTCY COURT (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) LONDON, Dec. 1. Brought to London Bankruptcy Court in charge of warders, Fredcrick de Verteuil, the disbarred barrister, attended his public examination in bankruptcy before Mr Deputy Registrar Mellor. His statement of affairs showed liabilities of £3649 and no assets. Replying to Mr L. A. West, senior official receiver, de Verteuil said that he was called to the Bar in 1909, and practised successfully until 1920 in India. He returned to England because of his children's health and education. He was solvent, and received an allowance from his father. A SUCCESSFUL NOVEL He was made bankrupt in December, 1926, with liabilities of £1236, and a dividend of 9d in the £ was paid. He had not applied for his discharge. From 1927 to 1931 he was engaged in literary work, and he then returned to the Bar. One of his novels was " really successful." He was disbarred in January last. Criminal proceedings followed, and he was sentenced to five years' penal servitude. Since he was disbarred he wrote " Fifty Wasted Years," and assigned the royalties. For a certain period he and another man, named Kent, received information from a trainer of horses. " I started with £25. We had 12 or 13 bets, and we only lost twice. The information eventually stopped, and I made, altogether, about £1000." Mr West asked if he could account for the £6OOO which a jury had found that he received. £6OOO DENIAL Dr Verteuil replied that it was monstrous to suggest that he ever received it. It was a physical impossibility. Mr Registrar Mellor: You appre-

date that the jury found that you did?—Of course, everybody knows that. He added: "The case against me at the beginning was that I had this money. That was a statement made by a man I befriended for six months, who was a direct descendant of Judas Iscariot." He could give no other explanation except that he did not get the £6OOO. There was some extravagance in household expenses. He had hoped to get a large sum for an autobiography, and there was a series of manuscripts which had never been placed. ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE There was a sensational account of his life, to appear after the trial, for which he was told he might get £2OOO or £3OOO. He was anxious to trace a number of manuscripts which had been "thrown all over the place." His father died 18 months ago in the West Indies. His brother, in Trinidad, was managing an estate which used to yield a large income, and in which he had a sixth share. At the moment it was not worth a penny. The examination was concluded.

Officials at the Auckland Railway Station have been watching with interest the activities of a pair of blackbirds which chose one of the young native trees standing on the lawn beyond the end of the main concourse U the site for a nest. The nest is now completed, and one of the birds is sitting on the eggs. Although adjacent to the busy platforms and less than six feet from the ground, the nest is well concealed by the thick foliage of the tree, and the birds appear to be quite undisturbed by the bifstle and noise of the station.