HC Deb 13 February 1890 vol 341 c197
MR. PICTON

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Mr. Copeland Crawford, who last July was sentenced at Sierra Leone to 12 months' imprisonment for having caused one of his black servants to be flogged to death, and was thereupon allowed to come to England for the benefit of his health, is now undergoing his punishment; and, if so, where?

BARON H. DE WORMS

Mr. Crawford was not "allowed to come to England for the benefit of his health." He was removed to the United Kingdom under the Colonial Prisoners' Removal Act, 1884, to undergo the remainder of his sentence of imprisonment because his life would be endangered by further imprisonment in Sierra Leone. On his arrival at Liverpool he was examined by a Medical Board, who reported that further confinement in prison would endanger his life, and he was thereupon released in accordance with the ordinary practice in similar cases.

MR. H. H. FOWLER (Wolverhampton)

May I ask who nominated the Board? Was it the Colonial Office?

BARON H. DE WORMS

I cannot answer that question. The right hon. Gentleman must give notice of it.