London, Nov. 1.
After a brief hearing at the Mansion House today, Dennis Corrigan, charged with the attempted shipment [to China in April, 1938, of 550 cases alleged to contain machine tools and motor-car parts but actually containing bricks and rubbish, was fined £500 and ordered to pay 25 guineas costs, with the alternative of six months' imprisonment.
It was alleged that the cases were shipped by the steamer Merkland and were seized and opened at Marseilles.
Counsel watched the case on behalf of the Chinese Embassy.
Describing the case as an interesting one, counsel for the prosecution said that it began in March with a meeting between Mr. Corrigan and Mr. Chou Ting-ssu, who was apparently a visitor to England with access to the Chinese Embassy.
it was only right to say, he added, that they had made enquiries and were satisfied that the Chinese Embassy and officials of the Embassy were completely innocent so far as the case was concerned and had had no knowledge of it.
Counsel explained that he made statement because some docum-; ts were on Chinese Embassy note-paper bearing the seal of the Embassy.
An insurance policy, counsel stated, was issued covering half a million cartridges and 50 cases of machine-i parts, but Cortigan altered this jarrengement and "550 cases of machine parts" were eventually shipped, the cases having been specially made and filled with bricks and rubbish worth practically nothing, For some reason of his own, counsel continued, Corrigan supplied a false invoice for the purpose of his declaration to the Customs.
Counsel for the defence emphasized that Corrigan was being tried on a summons for a false Customs declaration.
It was true, he declared, that Corrigan and Mr. Chou were concerned in the sale of munition to China. In March a sum of money bad in fact been paid to a Belgian frm for supplying guns and amtuunition to China when it came to the knowledge of Mr. Chou that the consignment was not intended for China but for Spain.
It was Mr. Chou's idea, counsel for the defence continued, that a trap should be set to see whether the goods would be sent to Spain whether they should go on to China.
If they had gone to Spain, and the cases had contained what was described as rubbish, no harm would have been done.
If, on the other hand, the cargo had gone on to China, it could have been arranged for actual ammunition and guns to follow.- Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.