HC Deb 02 March 1911 vol 22 cc562-3
Mr. O'GRADY

I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department a question of which I have given private notice: whether the responsibility of the husband of Mrs. Woolmer, who was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for neglecting her five children, was considered by the Bench; whether at the hearing the woman pleaded guilty at the husband's request, and, if so, whether, in consideration of that and also of the fact that the neglect for which Mrs. Woolmer is imprisoned, arose from the husband frequently earning no more than eight shillings a week, which, together with the situation of the cottage, con- duced towards making the woman mentally defective, the right hon. Gentleman will see fit to order her release, so that she may be placed under the charge of one of the number of persons who have offered to care for her and nurse her back to health?

Mr. CHURCHILL

As I did not get notice of the question just put, I am not prepared with a formal answer. I am carefully watching and considering the case, and if the hon. Member would repeat his question on Monday next I hope to be able to give him some further information.