§ SIR JOHN SHELLEYsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been directed to the report of an inquest held at the Strand Union on the body of Mr. George Drake, from which report it appears that this gentleman, in an apoplectic condition, was taken there by the police, supposed by them to be of unsound mind from drink, and left without any information by what means he came into their hands, and whether he will cause a Communication to be forwarded to the police authorities requiring that, in future, when any sick person, incapable of giving any explanation of his or her condition, be taken to a Union Infirmary, all the facts bearing on the case which the police can furnish should be forwarded in writing with 488 the patient for the guidance and information of the medical officer?
§ SIR GEORGE GREY,in reply, said, he did not know anything of the case until after he saw the notice of the hon. Gentleman on the paper. It appeared that this person was in a hotel, where he was found in an excited and frantic state. He was taken before a magistrate by the police, whose duly it was to do so. By order of the magistrate he was removed to the workhouse. The policeman who took him, in obedience to the orders of the magistrate, could not state in writing all the circumstances connected with the case, but he stated that he brought him there by order of the magistrate who had all the facts before him when he made the order. He (Sir George Grey) would communicate with the magistrate on the subject, with a view to the object of his hon. Friend.