§ MR. BLANE (Armagh, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can state what was the nature of the last Medical Report with reference to the eyesight of Peter Callaghan, of Crossmaglen, County Armagh, now an inmate of Chatham Convict Prison; whether he has lost entirely the sight of one of his eyes since his imprisonment, and the sight of the other has been affected by sympathy and likely to be lost; if he will enlarge the prisoner before his eyesight is altogether lost, or at least give him a ticket of leave as is usually done in cases where the prisoner might have suffered from many years of penal servitude; if he can say by whom the last visit to this prisoner was paid, and if he is now entitled to a visit according to the Prison Rules; and 1240 how long the prisoner has been in hospital during his imprisonment in Chatham Convict Prison?
§ MR. MATTHEWSA special Report was made in September last by Dr. Hartridge, opthalmic surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In his opinion the right eye was quite normal and healthy, and he saw no reason why it should not remain so. The sight of the left eye was lost from an accident some years ago before Callaghan's imprisonment. Sir J. Rid son Bennett also reported to the visitors in April last that the sight of the eye was destroyed by the original injury six months before entering prison, and that there was absolutely nothing to be done for it when the convict came to the prison. These Reports from eminent authorities afford no justification for the suggestion that imprisonment has endangered or injured his eyesight. The prisoner was last visited by the hon. Member himself in August last, and he is now due for another visit. He has been in hospital four times—105 days in all—since he was admitted to Chatham Prison in 1884.
§ MR. MATTHEWSIf the hon. Member will apply in the usual way I have no doubt his application will be considered.