HC Deb 20 April 1893 vol 11 cc754-5
DR. CAMERON (Glasgow, College)

I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the case of Thomas Albin, aged 21, who recently died in Camperdown Police Station, Glasgow, to which he had been conveyed by constables, who had found him lying unconscious in the street, and locked up on a charge of being drunk and incapable; whether it is true, as stated by Albin's father, that the toe-caps of his son's boots were worn into holes and his trowsers from the knees downwards thickly covered with dust, proving that while in a dying state he had been dragged or trailed face downwards through the streets to the police station; and whether any independent investigation was made into the conduct of the police in the matter, or to ascertain the real cause of Albin's sudden death?

*THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR,&c.) Clackmannan,

Full and independent inquiry has been made into this case, both at the time of the occurrence and again recently, and a special precognition of the doctor in charge was taken by order of the Advocate Depute. The death was certified to be probably due to heart disease, and this has been corroborated by further medical testimony spontaneously given a few days ago by a doctor who attended the deceased in December last. The evidence shows that the deceased had probably fallen in the street and been moved to the position in which he was found by the police. The dust upon his trowsers may be duo to that fall, and the state of the boots is not unaccounted for. There is nothing to show that blame can be attributed to the two policemen, assisted by whom the deceased walked to the station. He was not locked up on a charge of being "drunk and incapable." When he reached the station, about 150 yards from where he was found, it was at once seen that he was seriously ill, and the doctor and his father were summoned, both arriving before his death.