§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Longford, N.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the fact that, on Wednesday, 3rd July, George Symons, aged 22, of Parc-Bracket Street, Camborne, after serving a month's imprisonment with hard labour in the Cornwall County Gaol, Bodmin, on a charge of day poaching, had suffered so much from the prison treatment that he was in a semi-unconscious state when brought home, and died on the following Monday; that he was much emaciated when released; that his own clothes, which he had to resume on leaving the gaol, were in such a damp condition that they were covered with blue mould; that no inquest was held, a certificate of death from inflammation being supplied by the medical attendant at Camborne; and -will the Government order any inquiry?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. STUART WORTLEY, Sheffield, Hallam)It appears that George Symons, on admission to prison, was pronounced fit to undergo his sentence of one month's imprisonment; that during his imprisonment he made no complaint to the Acting Governor or to the prison doctor; nor, indeed, when he was seen by them the day before his discharge. He left the prison on Wednesday, July 3rd, in good spirits; and 1458 the senior officer reports that his clothes were clean and dry, and that he made no complaint as to their condition. His death on the following Monday was, according to two local newspapers, attributed to excessive eating. No grounds for an inquiry seem to exist in this case.
§ DR. KENNY (Cork, S.)Does it not follow that if excessive eating followed the release from prison the man must have been starved in gaol?
§ [No answer was given.]