§ MR. LEVY (Leicestershire, Loughborough)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that two men, named Pick and Cokin, were arrested at Hinckley on 27th February for nonpayment of fines and costs incurred under the Vaccination Acts, and were handcuffed before being conveyed to prison; will he state by whose authority they were handcuffed; and will he take steps to see that such treatment is not again employed under similar circumstances.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers Douglas.) On my attention being drawn to this case I called for a report from the local police and find that the facts are as stated in the Question. No special 83 authority is needed for the use of handcuffs in the case of prisoners when the police have reason to fear that without them they may be unable to carry out the warrant of commitment. In the present instance it appears that the officers charged with this duty considered that handcuffs were necessary to prevent the execution of the warrant being frustrated. I am not prepared to say that this opinion was not justified. The necessity for handcuffs must depend upon the circumstances of each case, though I am certainly of opinion that they should not be used except for very good reasons.