§ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if his attention has been called to the sentence on a stoker at Portsmouth of five years penal servitude for refusing to go down on his knees; and whether, in view of the severity of this sentence and the character of the alleged offence, any steps will be taken to reverse it.
§ *MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONI have nothing to add to my replies to previous Questions asked by the hon. Member for St. Pancras and the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy Burghs, except that the charge against the stoker referred to is not correctly stated in the hon. Member's Question.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDWas it not the order which gave rise to the whole trouble?
§ * MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONThat may be so. It is just one of those points on which I think it is not desirable that I should say anything until the judicial proceedings are concluded. The whole of the cases will be considered by the Admiralty, which has power to suspend, modify, or annul that sentence, or any other.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDasked whether, in view of the fact that everybody thought the sentence was excessive, 283 the right hon. Gentleman would take special steps to expedite the proceedings.
§ * MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONYes, Sir, as soon as the judicial proceedings are finished. The right hon. Gentleman added that there were two charges against the stoker of inciting stokers to join in mutinous disturbances.