§ MR. H. C. F. LUTTRELL (Devon, Tavistock)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Charles Franklin, aged 18, who was undergoing a term of two months' hard labour for having stolen a watch and chain, hanged himself in his cell at Wandsworth, on the 30th August, by means of a handkerchief attached to the crank wheel; whether a similar case had occurred at Lewes Gaol; whether, on the inquest on Charles Franklin, the jury had recommended the removal from the cells of these labour machines; and, whether, in view of such recommendation, and the report of the Departmental Committee on Prisons, 1895, which recommended that mechanical labour should wherever practicable be discontinued, he will take steps to cause to be removed from cells those labour machines which have been described as unproductive, serving no useful purpose, and demoralising as well as dangerous?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolThe suicide of Charles Franklin in Wandsworth Gaol was carried out by means of a bandage removed from an injured hand and fastened to the handle of the crank. No occurrence of the kind can be traced as having taken place in Lewes prison since it was taken over by the Government. The jury expressed the opinion that no blame attached to any of the prison officials, but that these labour machines should be removed from the cells. The recommendation of the Prisons Committee was, that unproductive labour should, wherever practicable, be discontinued, and the Prisons Commissioners have had under their most careful consideration the question of substituting productive labour for these machines. Their suggestions will receive my immediate attention.