§ MR. W. McEWAN (Edinburgh, Central)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the complaint made by James Gouldie against two police constables in Edinburgh, charging them with assault; and if he will state the reasons why Crown Counsel decided that no proceedings were necessary?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. GRAHAM MURRAY,) ButeshireI have seen the precognitions in this case, and concur in the reasons which led Crown Counsel to order no proceedings, viz., that the evidence did not substantiate an assault on the part of the constables. Gouldie, who is a powerful man and has been thirteen times convicted of assault, seems to have, without any provocation, struck one of the constables a violent 1307 blow in the eye with his fist; and in the struggle which ensued in the endeavour to arrest Gouldie for this assault he received some injuries which necessitated medical assistance.