BOGUS KNIGHT IS GAOLED.

Shannon News, 9 August 1929, Page 2

BOGUS KNIGHT IS GAOLED.

“SIR ROBERT GUNTER.’

CAREER OF CRIME CONTINUED IN LONDON.

(“Sun’' Special.) LONDON, Tuesday Described by the New Zealand police as the most cunning confidence trickster ever to visit the Dominion, Robert the impersonator of D. R. Wyndham Lewis, the noted hu-

morist, has been sentenced to 12 months for stealing from Malcolm Keen, the actor. tj 4. The prosecution stated that Hunter’s real name was Gunter. He recent-

ly .returned from Australia wheie. he posed as “Sir Robert Gunter,” and was sentenced to six months hard labour for having obtained a motor car bv means of false representation. * The prosecution stated that Gunter

recently returned from Australia. Educated at Cambridge, file wak courtmartialled in 1914, when an officer m the Army Servic'e * Corps, for wear mg decorations, including the V.C., to

which he was not entitled. He next joined the Canadian forces, and be- . came a sergeant-major. After the war he lived with and impersonated titled people and military officers. He once posed as Sir Alan Cobham, and ordered wine valued at £IOOO. (Published in “The Daily Maik”) The “Daily Maill’ recalls that Gunter is recognised in, London clubland

and by the police of three countries, owing to his long trail of victims, as one of the ‘most daring and skilful

tricksters, whose hoaxes and impersonations during the last 15 years have earned him several terms ;of imprison-

ment. , ... It was a coincidence that, while the “Daily Mail” was warning its readers agaiust Gunter, under the nickname of “Scarface,” he should be impersonating Wyndham Lewis, one of the “Daily Mail’s” contributors. His exploits include posing as a doctor in well-known dubs and hotels in 1923.

Later, during the general election ha spoke on behalf of a Conservative candidate in tire Midlands, accompanied a Liberal candidate to London, and borrowed £5 to pay for a congratulatory dinner, for which, however, someone else paid. He impersonated the famous airmen, Captain Frank Courtney and Commander Samson.

His most amazing exploit, however, was the hoaxing of Graham White at the Hendon aerodrome, when he posed as “Lord Station,” and introduced a German clerk as the Crown Prince of WurttembersJ, jbpthi enjjoyifog -a free flight, after which Gunter entertained a large party, which included a countess, who/ later took a drive in a borrowed Rolls Royce motor car. Lately he had been posing in London as the representative of the Sydney Bulletin and victimised a number of theatrical people.

TvnrvF.D IN SYDNEY SOCIETY. Gunter had a short but hectic career in Sydney where he arrived from New Zealand by the Marama on February 7th, 1928.. Posing as “Sir Robert Gunter” he took rooms at the Hotel Australia- He called at the Town Hall, and, in the guise of an expert on traffic . matters, he made suggestions to members of Ithe Traffic Coinmisjsion. I-Ie also'asserted that he was consulting engineer to the London General Omnibus Company and, as such, was interviewed by several Sydney people interested m the company. When he had been in Auckland (N.Z.) he had received a fee of £IOO from the Auckland City Council for a report on street traffic.

To one Sydney inquirer, who had not previously heard of his title, he said that for business purposes he was plain ‘‘ Mr Gunter. ’ ’ He had only been a knight for four days. As Sir Robert, however, he gained the entree to exclusive social circles. Although he was not entertained here as lavishly as he was in Auckland, the bogus knight deceived quite a number of people, and was said to be paying serious attentions to a Sydney society girl. His career of deception, during which he was alleged to have victimised many leading business men, was cut short by his arrest one night in March at the Wentworth Hotel by DetectiveSergeant Wilson and Detective Arnold. “ Scarf ace,” as he is known in London, was sentenced to six months’ hard labour for having obtained a motor ear by means of false representation, and, in August, lvas deported.