§ SIR THOMAS DEWAR (Tower Hamlets, St. George's)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state what compensation it is proposed to grant to Albert Blake, of Wands-worth, who was recently wrongfully convicted on a charge of robbery, and 1172 sentenced to twenty-one days imprisonment.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) In view of all the circumstances, this is not a case in which compensation could properly be granted from the Exchequer. The police have given Blake a small gratuity, in consideration of the loss of three days work which was caused by the mistaken identification, and Blake has expressed his satisfaction with it. He was convicted, not of robbery, but of larceny of a flower-pot.