Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 24 June 1916, page 19


A Too Zealous Journalist.

Edgar Charles Middleton, who described himself as a journalist, was brought up for trial in London on Thursdny on a charge of "having endeavoured to obtain informa-tion respecting the disposition of His Ma-jesty's forces which was calculated to be of service to the enemy."

He pleaded guilty, and was bound over to come up for judgment if called upon.

[Middleton was arrested at Dover on April 13. 'In the police court proceedings Mr. E. E. Chitty. who prosecuted for the Admiralty, said that the prisoner was for-merly a probationer sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service, and for a time was stationed at Dover. He was, however, not long in the service, and was said to be writing articles for the "Daily Mail" under the name "Air Pilot." He went to Dover, and saw three officers of the R.N.A.S., to whom he said that he had come down on behalf of the "Daily Mail" and to do "a bit of spying" for Mr. Pemberton Billiny, M.P., who was being run by the "Daily Mail." The prisoner, it was stated, invited two officers of the air service to lunch with him, and endeavoured to obtain from them information regarding the disposition of Bri-tish aircraft and the preparedness of the service to meet certain aerial attacks. Coun-sel did not suggest that prisoner used the term "spying" in the generally accepted sense, but it was obvious that he was en-deavouring to obtain information which would be of great value to the enemy. On behalf of the prisoner it was stated that he was formerly in the air service, and was in valided out a month before after a serious nervous breakdown, H was now engaged in journalistic work, and went to Dover on a perfectly innocent mission to deal with a matter which had been the subject of dis-cussion for weeks both in Parliament and in the press.]