§ 30. Mr. T. M. HEALYasked the Secretary for Scotland if he is aware that two doctors, who examined Ethel Moorhead a few hours after her release on 25th February, reported that she was then suffering from double pneumonia caused from the injection of foreign substances into the lungs; if he will say if the burning of the church, referred to by him as justifying the course followed, occurred on the night of Miss Moorhead's release, when she was at the point of death; and 1021 if it is the practice in Scotland, in regulating the treatment of convicted persons, to differentiate in the case of women about whom the police express suspicions that they may have been implicated in other breaches of the law for which they have not been tried?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe only report of the nature mentioned which I have received is one by Dr. Grace Cadell, a copy of which was sent to me. I have already dealt with the allegation contained in that report in my answer to the hon. Member for the Blackfriars Division on the 9th March, to which I would refer the hon. and learned Member. As regards the remainder of the question, in deciding whether to grant to a prisoner undergoing sentence a temporary discharge on licence under the Act of last Session, I have to take into consideration all the circumstances of the case, and circumstances such as those mentioned in the earlier portion of the answer already referred to are obviously relevant in this regard. There was no suggestion in my answer to the hon. Member for Blackfriars that Ethel Moorhead was concerned in the burning of Whitekirk Church.
Mr. McKINNON WOODNo, Sir. No suggestion of that kind was made. It is perfectly clear from the purport of my answer that no suggestion of that kind was made.