§ MR. MARKHAMI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been directed to a speech of one of His Majesty's Judges alleging that many murderers were confined in Broadmoor Asylum though perfectly sane; whether he will say whether the decision of the doctor of this asylum as to whether a patient is insane or not is final; and whether no examination either by a medical board or independent medical men is permitted.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI have seen a report of the learned Judge's remarks, and I think that the hon. Member has somewhat misapprehended their purport; but I may say in reply to his Question that there are in Broadmoor persons guilty of murder who could not at the present moment be held to be insane, but who must be detained in Broadmoor in pursuance of the Order of the Court so long as there is a serious risk that, if set at liberty, they would relapse into the condition in which they committed the crime. In judging of the mental condition of patients, I rely on the advice of the medical authorities who see them daily, and who have exceptional experience of similar cases, and I should not be assisted by calling in other medical men, who, however eminent, could not have the same opportunities of forming an 1143 equally trustworthy opinion; in any case the present mental condition is by no means the only determining factor in deciding whether it is safe to release a man who, in a state of insanity, has committed a grave crime, and who, if at large, might again become dangerous.