§ MR. WILLIAM CORBET (Wicklow, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the following paragraph in the Daily News of the 28th April, 1890, with reference to the Report of the Commissioners of Lunacy on the subject of the ill-treatment of patients in the Ledgfield Lunatic Asylum:—
These officials state that they were satisfied that three attendants were guilty of ill-treatment to patients under their charge, and they 1830 declare that dismissal, with a month's wages in lieu of notice, was utterly disproportionate to the offence;can he say when the offence was committed; what is the date of the Commissioners' Report to which reference is made; what was the nature of the injuries inflicted on the patients; did the patients die; and why were not steps taken to bring the attendants to justice, and is it too late now to do so.
§ *MR. MATTHEWSThe ill-treatment was alleged to have taken place on several occasions prior to 3rd January this year. The paragraph is based on an entry made by the Visiting Commissioners in the book of the Durham County Asylum of the 13th February. No patient died, and no steps were taken to bring the offenders to justice, as the Visiting Commissioners did not consider that sufficient evidence was forth-corning to justify proceedings being taken.