LOVE DRAMA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 900, 18 February 1930, Page 14

LOVE DRAMA

ROMANCE OF CHELSEA ARTS BALL J-.&3 '' ‘ *£- THREAT TO SHOOT i The threads of a romance which | became frayed over the Chelsea Arts ; Ball at the Albert Hall on New Year’s Eve were repaired in the Marylebone Police Court recently. The central figures were an attractj ive widow (who said she was staying I nt the Carlton Hotel as the guest of a Major Ward) and Mr. Cyril Clutterbuck, an engineer, of the Royal Air Force Club, Piccadilly. Mr. Clutterbuck, who had been arrested only an hour previously, was charged with using threats toward the widow, Margaret Talman. He denied the charge. Mrs. Talman, who was in tears, said she had arranged to go to the Albert Hall Ball on New Year’s Eve. and she asked Mr. Clutterbuck by telephone to join the party. He declined, she said, and threatened to shoot her and “the old man.’’ He also said he would be at the Albert Hall, and she had better be careful, and that she would not see him. She tried all night to get in touch with him, but could not. “I Was Frightened” Mr. Dummett (the magistrate): Were you under a genuine apprehension that harm would come to you? Mrs. Talman: Yes. I was frightened. Are you now? —I don’t want to be. Mrs. Talman said she laid the information because she was so worried. “I didn’t like going out or leaving the Carlton,” she said, weeping. ”1 have been afraid all day.” Mr. Dummett: Is he jealous of you? —That is the whole of the trouble. Mr. Clutterbuck on oath denied the alleged threats. He said that after speaking to Mrs. Talman. to whom he was engaged, he sent a letter to the hotel by express messenger asking her to return his ring, but there was no reply. He Refused He then telephoned to her asking her to return the ring. She again asked him to accompany them to the ball, and he said it was impossible, and told her to be careful, as he would be there and that he intended seeing Major Ward in the morning. “No such words as a threat to shoot passed my lips,’ ’he declared. “I don’t possess a gun.” Mr. Dummett: When you said “Be careful,” what did you mean?—l meant to let her know that I would be there to spoil her evening. Do you disapprove of her friendship with Major Ward?—No. What is the cause of the trouble? — We had arranged to go to the ball, and when I heard that Major Ward was going I refused. I did not think it was dignified to ask me to accompany her with another man to a ball if I was buying the tickets. Had you any intention oi using violence to her or Major Ward?—None whatever. Mrs. Talman, recalled, said, “I was engaged to him and I love him very much, and still want him.” Under Great Emotion Mr. Clutterbuck, replying to the magistrate, said his feelings toward Mrs. Talman were unchanged. Mr. Dummett said both of them had been acting under the stress of great emotion and he would give the accused the benefit of the doubt and dismiss the charge. Inspector Francis then played his part in the romance. He spoke to both and a moment later Mr. Clutterbuck extended his arms and the widow, sobbing, was clasped in them. Mr. Clutterbuck kissed her before they left the court.