§ MR. E. H. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S. W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meaning is attached by the officers of convict prisons to the expression "felon convicts" in the Standing Order, which states that in case of absolute necessity it is lawful to shoot at a felon convict if his escape cannot otherwise be prevented?
§ SIR MATTLIEW WHITE RIDLEYA "felon convict" means, and is understood by the prison officers to mean, a convict who has been convicted of felony. Steps are taken to keep such convicts separate from those who have been convicted only of a misdemeanour.
§ MR. PICKERSGILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a prison director, and, if so, who, has held an inquiry into the circumstances of the attempted escape of convicts from Dartmoor Prison on the 24th December last; whether he has received a report, and, if so, will he lay it upon the Table; whether he proposes to take any further action as regards the warders who killed the convict Carter; and what punishment has been awarded to the convicts Goodwin and Martin respectively for their attempt to escape?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYYes, Sir; by my directions a special inquiry was held by the visiting director of the prison, at which evidence was 509 taken on oath, and a report made to me by him. It would not be in accordance with the usual practice or with the public interest that a confidential report of this character should be laid on the Table. After carefully considering this report and the evidence given at the inquest, I came to the conclusion that there was no sufficient ground for taking further action as regards the warders, who, in very difficult circumstances, appear to mo not to have fired at the convict until the moment came when his escape could not otherwise have been prevented. The trial of the convicts Goodwin and Martin has been postponed, Goodwin up till now having been detained in the hospital.