MR. E. H. PIGKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the fact that on the 5th instant, in the Lancaster Borough Police Court, the Chief Constable persisted in acting as an advocate for the prosecution, after objection taken, on a charge of assault, in which he was not the informant; and whether, having regard to the numerous cases in which police officers act in this manner, contrary to law, he will issue a circular upon the subject?
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY, Lancashire, Blackpool)The hon. Member does not describe with perfect accuracy the course followed by the Chief Constable in this case. The objection taken by the defendants' solicitor was, to use his own words, purely a matter of etiquette, and he withdrew it before the proceedings in the case began. It appears to have been 391 due to an oversight only that the information was laid by someone other than the police, who had really taken up the case, and I am quite satisfied, after making inquiry and reading the published reports of the proceedings, with the Chief Constable's action. I am not aware that there are numerous cases in which police officers act as advocates contrary to the law, and I see no reason for issuing a circular.