A ONCE-FAMOUS DETECTIVE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 276, 18 May 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

A ONCE-FAMOUS DETECTIVE

THE LATE JOHN MEIKLEJOHN. One of the most sensational trials of the last century is recalled by the death at South Hackney (England) of Mr. John Meiklejohn, formerly superintendent of the Detective Force of Scotland Yard. Mr. Meiklejohn, who was 71 years of age, was a Perthshire man, and 'had a somewhat remarkable career. In the position of Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard he took charge of many important cases, and as a detective he was regarded as one of the smartest and most successful of his time. He had a way of dealing with the criminal classes by which he managed to make them of considerable service to him. He was always ready to put his hand in his pocket to assist a criminal when he fell on bad times, and the criminal never forgot those "good turns" when Mr. Meiklejohn was in search of information regarding any robbery or other crime which he was investigating. It was his duty for a time to accompany Queen Victoria and other members of the Royal Family in their travels, and he was well known in high circles. On one occasion while he was walking along Ludgate Hill with a Dundee gentleman, Mr._ Meiklejohn was hailed by Napoleon 111. of France, who was driving past, and who pulled up in order to shake hands with the famous detective. But his public career was brought to a close in a sensational manner, when he became involved in the great turf frauds of 1877. Forged cheques for £IO,OOO and other documents purporting to be signed by the Baroness de Goncourt put some £13,000 in the pockets of a gang of sharpers, five of whom were sentenced to penal servitude. The chief of the band was Henry Benson. With four other detective inspectors in the Metropolitan Police and a solicitor, Meiklejohn was charged with conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice in aiding Benson and his fellow-criminals in perpetrating the great turf frauds. According to the evidence given at the trial, Meiklejohn had been in league with two men named Kurr and Benson in perpetrating frauds on the public. When complaints were made to the police he suppressed them, and when a colleague began to make en-! quiries Meiklejohn took advantage of the j small pay he was receiving to draw him ] gradually into his net. Finally, he compromised a third detective inspector, and sought to inveigle a fourth. When warrants were issued against Benson and Kurr they were given timely information, and escaped from the country, but were arrested at Rotterdam and extradited, and ultimately sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Almost immediately after there followed the sensational arrest of Meiklejohn and his colleagues, as the result of information given by Benson and Kurr, and the officers were indicted before Baron Pollock. The trial lasted a fortnight, and the prisoners, with the exception of one inspector, were found guilty, and each sentenced to two years' hard labor. Benson subsequently committed isuicide in a New York prison, and Meiklejohn, after serving his sentence, was employed in obtaining evidence for the sittings of the Parnell Commission. His last prominent appearance was in an unsuccessful action against Ma jor Arthur Griffiths.