§ MR. P. W. WILSON (St. Pancras, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been directed to the case of William James Rolls, now serving a sentence of five years penal servitude for perjury committed as a policeman; whether his attention has been called to the new facts in reference to this case, which were not known to the Court when Rolls was brought in guilty by the jury; and whether he is prepared to make any statement on the matter.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (MR. GLADSTONE,) Leeds, W.I have myself given the closest attention to the case referred to in the hon. Member's Question, and have had careful inquiries made with regard to the alleged new facts. It is with great regret that I have arrived at the conclusion that the conviction was right and that no ground exists on which I could depart from my predecessor's decision and recommend to His Majesty any interference with the sentence. I have not, in arriving at this decision, relied solely on my own judgment and that of my advisers, but I took the exceptional step of asking the highest judicial authority concerned in the administration of the criminal law, the Lord Chief Justice, to assist me. This he kindly consented to do, and the whole of the papers in this case, including all the appeals made to the Homo Office and the Articles which recently appeared in the Daily News, were placed in his hands. After fully examining them he has informed me that it is his clear opinion that the conviction was right, and that there is no possible ground for Home Office interference.
§ MR. P. W. WILSONI shall put another Question on this.