Hairdo? Make-up? Fearsome machete?
Checklist of aristocrat, 53, who took weapon into a business showdown after suffering big losses on £320,000 crypto investment
AS SHE prepared for the business meeting, Romaine Colthurst made sure her hair was just right, checked her make-up... and adjusted her machete.
The 53-year-old aristocrat took the weapon – which had belonged to her grandfather – to the meeting to ‘make a point’, a court heard.
She had lost a substantial sum after investing £320,000 in cryptocurrency and the meeting had been called to discuss the losses.
When questioned by police, Colthurst said that to ready herself for the meeting she ‘brushed my hair and made sure my make-up and hair was straight and adjusted the machete under my coat’.
Colthurst is descended from Irish aristocrats. Her father Oliver’s family own Blarney Castle and estate near Cork, including its famous stone, while her mother, Caroline, was a fashion journalist and a founder member of the exclusive London club Annabel’s.
The Colthursts’ Shropshire pile, the 42-room Grade I-listed Pitchford Hall – centrepiece of a 1,000-acre estate – has
‘A moment of madness’
been in the family since 1473 and once hosted Queen Victoria.
But the family were forced to sell the hall in 1992 when they were faced with a demand for £800,000 after investing in a Lloyd’s insurance syndicate. Colthurst’s sister, Rowena, bought back the Tudor house in 2016 with her political lobbyist husband James Nason.
Welshpool Magistrates’ Court was told that Colthurst, who has been sober for 25 years, had been unemployed for ten years and was living off her family’s inheritance. She had invested £320,000 in a cryptocurrency business belonging to entrepreneur Lyndon Farrington.
But after losing a substantial amount of money, she decided to confront Mr Farrington last November at his premises in the village of Llangedwyn, Powys, where his company Beep Mine Ltd is based.
Prosecutor Helen Tench said: ‘He [Mr Carrington] escorted her out and it was then that he noticed the machete in her right hand. It had not been pointed and no threats were made.’ Mrs Tench said when police later questioned Colthurst about the machete she said she was ‘just carrying it’.
‘She told officers that statute laws of the land did not apply to her and added that she had the machete “for the visual aspect” and “to make a point”.’
Pretesh Chauhan, defending, said: ‘Ms Colthurst made an illadvised decision to take what is essentially a family heirloom to the meeting. She uses it on her estate to cut down grass and vegetation. Nothing I can say is designed to excuse the fact that she was transporting a weapon to what was essentially a business meeting.’
Probation officer Julian Davies told the court: ‘She has lost lots of money and went to confront him about the investment, and in a moment of madness took her grandfather’s machete. She said she would never have used it, it was just a defence precaution.’
After admitting a charge of possessing a bladed article, Colthurst, from Llanymynech, on the English-Welsh border, was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 12 months.
She must complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and pay a £154 surcharge and £85 costs. The court also ordered the destruction of the machete.