§ MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the case of Lieutenant Paton, who was charged at Windsor on Saturday, December 1st, before the Berkshire magistrates, with the manslaughter of Mr. Hart, who died from injuries caused by a motor-car driven by the defendant at Windlesham, on October 23rd last, in which case several witnesses spoke to the car having been driven at a speed estimated at between forty and fifty miles an hour, and in which the magistrates, without calling on the defence, dismissed the charge; and whether, in view of the evidence that the defendant was travelling beyond the statutory limit of twenty miles an hour, he will state if he proposes to take any further action to protect the lives of persons using the highways.
§ * THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL,) Yorkshire, ClevelandMy right hon. friend has no official information on that matter. In Answer to the Question on the Paper, ray right hon. friend has so far only seen a newspaper report of the proceedings, but he is making further inquiries.
§ MR. T. L. CORBETTIS the hon. Gentleman aware that this offence of driving over the speed limit is becoming very common, and that the hon. Member who put this Question was himself recently fined for such an offence?