§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S. W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the number and character of the punishments inflicted on the convict Wright during his confinement in Portsea Prison; and whether he will 55 order an inquiry into the mental condition and responsibility of this convict by a medical man independent of the Prisons Board?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS, Birmingham, E.)I am informed by the Prison Commissioners that this convict has been reported 52 times and punished 50 times. The punishments include dietary punishment, close confinement, loss of class privileges and remission, and corporal punishments which has been inflicted once. He is reported to be of sound mind. There is no reason to question the competence of the medical officers attached to the Prison Department to give a correct opinion on the question of a prisoner's condition of mind. I do not propose to order a special inquiry in this case; but I have given instructions that the mental condition of the prisoner shall be closely watched.