YOUTH’S WOMEN VICTIMS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5327, 17 September 1928, Page 3

YOUTH’S WOMEN VICTIMS

CHEQUES FOR LARGE SUHS. FATAL FASCINATION. An, ajnazing story of the career of Henry Anderson Conroy I.r.vinjg Eustace. aged 22, who, was charged .with attempting to obtain nearly £7OOO from Mrs M. B. Stirling, a widc,w, of Doncaster, was told .at the Old BaileyThe prosecution alleged that Eustace, posing a?, a wealthy young man, induced Mrs Stirling, whose acquaintance. he made at a London hotel, to give him four blftnk cheques which e;he had signed. He filled two up for £6OOO and £844, and telegraphed to her bank at Doncaster in her name asking for them to be honoured. Phej were not hcjnoured, but two others for £5O and £3O were. Eustace in the box said ihq did not obtain the cheques by false pretence?, forge the telegram, or attempt to convert to his own use- the money for which the cheques were made out. HOSPITAL MEETING. Mr. PercivaJ Clarke, cross-eixamin-ing,: I may be too old for it to be of any service to me, but will you tell me wherein lies your fascination (Laughter).—l. do. not think there is ruch a thing. Eustace was found guilty on all counts. Mr Clarke . said that Eustace was the illegitimate son of a woman in a Cornish village. He was first a hquseboy and then a waiter. He then . wen,t to Sidmout.h ar a waiter and met with a motor-cycle accident. When in .hospital he met three benevolent elderly women, the Misses Cornish. On o,ne of these he imposed to the tune of £lO,OOO. Miss‘Cornish was afterwards plaintiff in an actiqn. which resulted in judgment being obtained against Eustace. Failure, to pay rendered him liable .to be sent to prison for contempt of Court. His banking account showed £lB,670 passing. through it in about six weeks. It included two cheques for £7,000 and £10,500 dra.wn by Mrs Lindpay White, a charming benevolent wido.w with family associations in Ceylon. Eustace met her ni the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensingoni. He .told her that he was tempqrarly financially embarrassed, but that he could offer, ample security, as he owned a house in Grovenor Square, let to the Japanese Embassy. £19,500 IN THREE WEEKS. As a result he got £19,500 from her without and security in lees than three weeks. Sir Henry Dickens : That should be a warning to wealthy wOjmen never to live alone, in London hotels, especial-, ly if they are benevolent. An, action was brought in respect of this matter,, said Mr Clarke, and judgment obtained against Eustace. To avoid the inconvenience of having t'o gc ; to prison, unless he satisfied the other judgment, he told Mrs Stirling a pack of lies and tried to get nearly £7OOO from her. Detective-Sergeant Thomas mentioned another woman, a Mrs Heath, whom Eustace had met in an hotel at Teignmouth in February, 1927. He toJd her a wonderful story about his wealth and got £lso'o from her. About this time he bought a motor garage at Walton-0.n,-Thames and lived ill a neighbouring hotel in/ great style, with a valet and a chauffeur, and a motor-car. A PRACTICAL SWINDLER. Sir Henry Dickenp, passing sentence said Eustace’s record for a youth of 22 was almC;st unbelievable. “You are a thoroughly plausible young rogue,” Sir Henr.v Dickens continued. “You are a practical swindler and a danger t.q society. “Yem tried to defraud this wopnaii, who took an interest in you, of many thousands of pounds. Luckily for her. {■he had not enough money in the bank to meet the cheques. “I shall give you a sentence which J hope will teach yoju a lesson and step this record of crime and swindling. You will go to hard labour for 22 m'onths.” • Eustace bowed to thei judge and left the dock with a smile.