§ MR. ASHLEYI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the friends of Richard Coles, who was found insane at the last Winchester assizes and is at present confined at Broadmoor, have petitioned him to confine Coles in the Hampshire County Asylum, as they are too poor to visit him at that distance from Hampshire; and whether, in view of the fact that the prisoner is perfectly quiet and suffers from depression, he will cause him to be transferred to the county asylum.
§ MR. GLADSTONEYes, I have received an application to that effect and have given it very careful consideration. I regret, however, that in view of all the circumstances of the case I do not feel justified in authorising the patient's removal from Broadmoor. The patient tried to murder his wife, and the case is more suitable for Broadmoor than for a county asylum.
§ MR. ASHLEYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the relations of this man are extremely poor?
§ MR. GLADSTONEYes, Sir, I have taken all the circumstances into consideration.