§ SIR WILFRID LAWSON (Cumberland, Cockermouth)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an Armenian refugee has been kicked to death by a crowd in Bermondsey; and, whether any special precautions are considered necessary for the protection of these foreigners while in London?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYIt is, unhappily, the case that an Armenian has died from an internal injury caused by a kick which he received in the streets. The facts appear to be these. He had gone out for a walk with another Armenian, and a number of lads, attracted by the oddness of their costume, set upon them in rough horseplay, eventually throwing the one down and, it is said, kicking him, while the other escaped. It appears that he then made his way back to the shelter where he was staying, and, complaining of internal pains—there were no external marks of violence visible—was taken to a hospital, where he was discovered, after his death, to have been suffering from a ruptured spleen. The police lost no time in taking action, and are doing their utmost to capture the principal offender. ["Hear, hear!"] There is no reason whatever to suppose that the fact of his being an Armenian had anything to do with the assault—[cheers]—and I do not think that any special protection is required for these foreigners. ["Hear, hear!"]
§ MR. JAMES O'KELLY (Roscommon, N.)Will any indemnity be paid?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYThat is a question I am not prepared to answer at present.