MR. TATTON EGERTONasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, 530 What steps he will take to prevent the recurrence of the circumstances by which, after the last train to Knutsford had left, two men and a woman and child, prisoners in charge of warders, were left at Chester on Friday 17th, and were, failing proper accommodation, put into unused un warmed cells, without bedding or any convenience; what steps he will take, both for the proper security of prisoners conveyed daily by ordinary trains during quarter sessions and assizes between Knutsford and Chester, and for the comfort and protection of witnesses and the public who have to travel by these trains; whether he is aware that large gangs of prisoners, both untried and convicted, are paraded in the ordinary trains and in the streets of both towns; and, whether representations were made to him of the inconvenience likely to arise from the closing of Chester Gaol?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, that the hon. Member had been misinformed as to the facts in that matter. The prisoners in question were detained in Chester owing to a late sitting of the Court of Quarter Sessions. They were comfortably lodged for the night in the civil prison, where they had every accommodation and convenience. The Governor stated that the prisoners were very comfortable; their cells were not cold, each of them was supplied with two pillows, two blankets, and three rugs. In future, as in that case, every attention would be paid when it was necessary, in rare cases, to keep the prisoners in Chester. With regard to the latter part of the Question, he could assure the hon. Member that the arrangements at Chester were the same as those always made in all the towns in the Kingdom where Quarter Sessions were held.