HC Deb 25 July 1878 vol 242 cc222-3
MR. A. MOORE

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to Rule 24 of the General Rules for the government of Prisons made by the General Prisons Board for Ireland, which runs as follows:— 24. A convicted criminal prisoner shall, during the whole of his sentence, when it does not exceed one month, and during one month of his sentence when it exceeds one month, be required to sleep on a plank bed. The prisoner shall be allowed the opportunity of earning by industry the gradual remission of this requirement after the expiration of one month; but, after he has earned such remission, he shall be liable to forfeit the same on account of idleness, inattention to instruction, or misconduct; and, whether he will explain the meaning of this Rule?

MR. J. LOWTHER

Sir, the rule to which the hon. Member refers is, I find, identical in the English and Irish prison rules; but I am bound to say that I am not surprised at his asking its meaning, as I confess I was unable myself to make head or tail of it when my attention was first called to the matter, and it certainly is not by any means happily expressed. What, however, I am now led to understand the interpretation to be is, that in the case of a sentence of one month or less, every prisoner—unless excused upon medical grounds—is required to sleep upon a plank bed during the whole period of his sentence; and also that in the case of sentences exceeding one month, the prisoner may be required to sleep upon a plank bed during a period amounting in the aggregate to one month; but that such period need not necessarily be the first month of the sentence, nor, so far as I can see, need the month be a consecutive period. The latter part of the rule is accordingly framed in order to enable a remission of its provisions to be made in the case of well-conducted prisoners whose sentences extend beyond one month. As some misconception appears to have arisen upon the subject of bed-clothing, I may, perhaps, as well add that an adequate supply is invariably furnished to the plank beds, and that it is not the case that prisoners are compelled to sleep in their day clothes.