§ MR. MOSS (Denbighshire, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the fact that convicts who are undergoing punishment at Dartmoor are photographed in their convict garb; that these photographs are publicly sold in shops; that they also take the form of picture postcards, and are sent through the Post Office, enabling convicts to be identified by the outside world; whether 930 he will take any, and what, steps to prevent in future anyone except the properly authorised prison authorities from taking photographs of convicts; and whether he will take any, and what, steps to prevent such photographs from being sold, or made public, or used for any other purposes except in the interests of justice.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOE THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. AKERS-DOUGLAS, Kent, St. Augustine's)My attention has been called to the postcards in question, but the photographs that appear on them are old ones and do not contain the likeness that can be identified of any convict now in Dartmoor. For several years past the officers at Dartmoor have had instructions not to allow the photographing of convicts by visitors, and to take every possible action to prevent "snap-shots" being taken of convicts working outside the prison. I may add that in some cases the directors of convict prisons have allowed photographs to be taken of the interior of prisons for use in illustrating articles on prison life; but such permission has always been given subject to the condition that no recognisable photograph of any individual prisoner should be taken and that prints should be submitted to the directors before publication in order that this condition might be strictly enforced.
§ MR. AKERS-DOUGLASI have seen the cards and photographs and have ascertained they are old ones taken before 1897, when the present orders were made.