Never plead guilty
From Cdr John Lewis RN Sir: In Life and Letters (26 June), Dr A.D. Harvey is quoted as referring to 'the possibility of prosecuting Noel Coward for a transatlantic tax dodge during the second world war'. Noel Coward was indeed prosecuted in 1941, as reported in newspapers at the time. As far as I can remember, the actual charge was his failure to register some dollar securities in accordance with regulations introduced early in the war. He pleaded not guilty, and incurred a fine. I can add a postscript.
Shortly after the case was over, Noel Coward, who was at the time, I think, engaged in war propaganda and similar work, visited the cruiser HMS Nigeria, then undergoing repairs in South Shields, in which I was serving as a midshipman. When Coward visited the gunroom, one of my contemporaries had the temerity to ask him about the case. The question caused much embarrassment among the rest of us. But Coward was unabashed. He maintained that he did not consider the fault to have been his, since his financial affairs were always handled by his accountants, who, he had believed, had taken action to comply with the regulations. He then went on to tell us that before the hearing he had discussed the case with Somerset Maugham, a friend of his, who had advised him (and I still remember the words): 'Don't — whatever you do — plead guilty! Your lawyers will tell you to plead guilty, but don't! Because if you do, the world will always believe that you were guilty': Sound advice, I have found.
John Lewis
Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex
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