§ 67. Sir KINGSLEY WOODasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the case recently heard at 221 the Kent Assizes when a prisoner was found guilty, but insane at the time, of the murder of a boy aged six years at Maidstone; whether in 1914 such prisoner was certified under the Mental Deficiency Act as a moral imbecile, but that he could not be sent to a home as it was impossible to find one for him; and whether he will state if there is now sufficient accommodation for such cases?
§ Mr. SHORTTMy attention has been called to this case. The man was certified under the Mental Deficiency Act in 1914 as a moral imbecile, but he could not be sent to a home at that time as no suitable accommodation existed. At the outbreak of war the building just completed for a State institution at Moss Side was lent to the War Office as a hospital for men suffering from mental disorders. I hope that this building will be returned by the War Office to the Board of Control in the course of a few months. Until this is done, the accommodation for imbeciles of criminal tendencies will be insufficient. In the meantime, some temporary accommodation will be provided by the Board in another institution as soon as staff is available.
§ Sir E. CARSONHow many of those moral imbeciles with criminal tendencies are at large?
§ Mr. SHORTTI must ask for notice of that question.