§ MR. SMEATON (Stirlingshire)I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether he is aware that on the 14th December last, during the performance of a juvenile musical piece in the Town Hall of Grangemouth, a girl, Annie Grey, aged thirteen and-a half years, was fatally wounded by a bullet from a revolver fired by Donald Stewart, stage carpenter, and died the following night in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary; whether a public inquiry was immediately made by the procurator fiscal, and, if not, will he say why this was not done; whether he will explain why the Crown authorities, after dropping the charge of culpable homicide against Stewart, decided to charge him with the offence of reckless discharge of 1541 firearms, and eventually dropped that I charge; whether any inquiry has been made to ascertain how and by whose authority loaded firearms were permitted to be brought on to the stage among children; and whether he will now direct the prosecution of Stewart on the charge of reckless use of firearms, or what steps does he intend to take in this matter.
§ MR. SINCLAIRVery careful inquiry has been made into the death of this girl, from which it appears that it occurred under the following circumstances: An amateur play was performed on 14th December, 1905, in the Town Hall, Grangemouth, and a young man named Donald Stewart was employed as stage?carpenter. Part of the piece was the firing of some shots, and this was entrusted to Stewart, who was supplied with a revolver and four blank cartridges. At the rehearsal three of these were discharged, and to replace them Stewart called at an ironmonger's shop and bought five cartridges. He says that he asked for blank cartridges and understood that he had been supplied with these. At least one of the cartridges, however, was a ball cartridge, and upon its being fired, the deceased, who was behind a curtain and scenery, was found to have been shot in the back of the neck. She died next day. Crown counsel carefully investigated the facts and came to the conclusion that the cause of death was accidental, and that there was no justifiable reason?for Stewart's prosecution on a criminal charge. The Secretary for Scotland is aware of the desire for a public inquiry into cases of such accidents and of sudden and suspicious deaths and of the dissatisfaction at the working of the Fatal Accidents Enquiry Act, and the Lord-Advocate has been asked to consider the whole subject with a view to possible legislation.
§ COLONEL LEGGE (St. George's, Hanover Square)Cannot something be done to the person supplying the cartridges?
§ MR. SINCLAIRThat was one of the matters carefully considered.
§ MR. SMEATONWill the right hon. Gentleman consider the desirability of urging a reform of the law in Scotland?
§ MR. SINCLAIRI have already said that that is being considered.