§ MR. HENRY BROADHURST (Leicester)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the charge to the grand jury by the Recorder of Norwich on 14th April, as reported by the Eastern Daily Press, in which, referring to a case of alleged intimidation in connection with a strike in the shoe trade in that city, the Recorder, after stating that he purposely refrained from reading anything about the strike, immediately went on to describe the conduct of the persons charged as abominable tyranny; and, whether, having regard to the fact that such language was calculated to prejudice the case in the minds of the grand jury, he will remit the remainder of the sentence of one month's hard labour?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY, Lancashire, Blackpool)The hon. Member has been good enough to send me the newspaper report to which he alludes, but there are no grounds, so far as I can see, for interfering with the sentence. The verdict of guilty on which the sentence was passed was, of course, as the hon. Member is aware, the verdict of the petty jury, and no complaint is made as to the manner in which the case was put before them by the Recorder.