§ 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, 1st December, before the Berkshire magistrates, with the manslaughter of Mr. Hart, who died from injuries caused by a motor car 666 driven by the defendant at Windlesham, on 23rd October 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 highway.
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Gladstone, Leeds, W.)Yes, Sir. I have now had the opportunity of making inquiries into this ease, and as the result I am consulting with the Director of Public Prosecutions as to whether further proceedings against the defendant should not be taken.
AN HON. MEMBERIs it not the fact that Lieutenant Paton says that his car was not travelling twenty miles an hour?
§ *MR. GLADSTONEThe case is under consideration. I can make no statement.