§ MR. CAVE (Surrey, Kingston)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Captain Grogan and four other British subjects are now undergoing a sentence of imprisonment at Nairobi, for an offence under the Indian Penal Code; whether the offence complained of consisted in the punishment of some natives for insults offered to white women; whether, in view of the circumstances and of the services rendered by Captain Grogan to East Africa and to this country, the Secretary of State is prepared to advise His Majesty to remit the remainder of the sentence; and when Papers on the subject will be laid upon the Table of the House.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill) The Answer to the first part of the hon. Member's Question is in the affirmative. According to the Secretary of State's present information these men were charged with holding an unlawful meeting and resisting the police. The officer administering the Government reports that the insult was not of a serious nature, and at most did not amount to more than rudeness and disobedience. He further reports that after collecting upwards of 100 Europeans, of whom many were armed, Captain Grogan and the persons acting with him flogged the three natives concerned in a most brutal manner in front of the Court House at Nairobi, in spite of the attempted intervention of the magistrate and a police officer. The natives were not handed over to the police. As at present informed the Secretary of State sees no reason for revising the 200 sentence of the magistrate's court upon Captain Grogan, and he proposes to defer the question of laying Papers on the Table of the House until he has received full details by mail.