§ COLONEL BLUNDELL (Lancashire, S.W., Ince)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether two soldiers of the Devonshire Regiment were apprehended by the county police at Topsham for being drunk and disorderly on Sunday the 2nd of May last, and were brought thence on the following morning handcuffed together in uniform, and in that state marched through the streets of Exeter to the 1094 police station; and, whether he will forbid the continuance of the practice of handcuffing soldiers when in custody of the civil power, unless there are reasonable grounds for expecting an attempt to escape or a rescue?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)I am informed by the Chief Constable of Devon that the facts are as stated in my hon. and gallant Friend's Question, except that the men were not marched through the streets of Exeter, but only a distance of 260 paces from the railway to the police station. I have no power to issue any orders on the subject; but I agree that it is undesirable to handcuff prisoners, except where it is difficult to control them.