HC Deb 10 July 1928 vol 219 cc2036-9
21. Mr. MACLEAN

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland upon whose orders the warrant to imprison Neil Macdonald and Ewan Maclennan was issued.

Major ELLIOT

My right hon. Friend has called for information on this point, and will communicate with the hon. Member when it is received.

22. Mr. MACLEAN

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the reason why Neil Macdonald and Ewan Maclennan were kept in prison after the 7th June, 1928, when they intimated they intended to appeal to the Court of Session against their sentence.

Major ELLIOT

These men were sentenced on the 14th June, 1928, and were detained in prison after that date in virtue of an ex facie valid warrant for their imprisonment.

Mr. MACLEAN

Will the hon. and gallant Member kindly inform me whether their detention was illegal?

Major ELLIOT

The hon. Member asked me the reason why they were kept in prison and the reason was because a warrant was in existence in accordance with the orders to which I previously referred. Whether these orders were valid is at present under judicial investigation.

Mr. MACLEAN

What I want to know is why they were kept in prison after their appeal and were not released until the matter was brought to the Court of Session.

Major ELLIOT

They were kept in prison because of the existence of the warrant and under the orders of the legal authorities, in accordance with the answer I have given.

Mr. MACLEAN

Is the hon. and gallant Member not aware that the Court of Session, in delivering judgment, said that there was a good deal to be said for the view of counsel that the men had been illegally kept in prison and will the hon. and gallant Member be good enough to answer a question properly and not ride off on a side issue.

Mr. SPEAKER

The hon. Member has been told that the matter is receiving consideration.

Mr. MACLEAN

But the hon. and gallant Member has not answered the question. It is the previous question which is receiving consideration, not this question. This question is a straight question, which can be answered definitely by the Minister because the facts are in the possession of the Scottish Office.

Major ELLIOT

The hon. Member has a question later dealing with the statement of the Court. I have dealt quite fully with the two questions which he has asked. It is not possible for me to give any more information.

28. Mr. MACLEAN

asked the Lord Advocate whether he has seen or received the statement of the Lord Justice Clerk that the appeal of Neil Macdonald and Ewan Maclennan against the sentence passed on them at Lochmaddy suspended the proceedings, and they should not have been imprisoned; and whether he can now state if any compensation will he offered these two men?

Major ELLIOT

My right hon. Friend has seen a shorthand transcript of the Opinion of the Lord Justice Clerk, in which His Lordship is reported as saying: The next question involved is whether these appellants ought to have been im- prisoned after the marking of the appeal to this Court. My impression at the moment is that they should not have been imprisoned. The marking of the appeal to this Court ought to have been regarded as suspending the procedure ad interim. The only warrant for imprisonment was, so to speak, held up by the appeal which had been taken. That is a quite familiar concept, and I think there is much to be said for the view which Mr. Walker presented that these men were not being legally committed to the Prison of Inverness. The hon. Member will therefore appreciate that the question whether there was any irregularity in the procedure in this case still remains for judicial decision. As regards the last part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend on 3rd instant.

Mr. MACLEAN

Since the Under-Secretary has read out the decision of the Lord Justice Clerk, which was concurred in by the other two Lords of Appeal sitting with him—in fact, it amounted to a statement that these two men, according to the impression made upon the Lord Justice Clerk—[HON. MEMBERS: "Speech!"]—ought not to have been imprisoned; after their appeal had been marked these men were kept in prison——

Mr. SPEAKER

The hon. Member ought not to repeat the answer which has been given by the Under-Secretary.

Mr. SHORT

Can we have the opinion of the Solicitor-General for Scotland?

Mr. MACLEAN

I have been trying to get a statement from the Scottish Office——

HON. MEMBERS

Speech!

Mr. SPEAKER

I want to waste as little time as possible.

Mr. MACLEAN

If hon. Members opposite had remained silent, there would not have been so much time wasted. Since the Lord Justice Clerk has given his impression that these men were illegally detained, I want to ask whether that in itself does not give these men the right to claim compensation for being imprisoned when the Court had no right to keep them in prison?

Major ELLIOT

I do not think that we can admit that for a moment. The Lord Justice Clerk stated his impression at the time, and he said that there was much to be said for the contention advanced by counsel.

Mr. JOHNSTON

Quite apart from the use of the word "impression," the Court of Sessions definitely ordered the release of these men from prison.

Major ELLIOT

Of course that was so, but the question put to me was whether these men had been illegally imprisoned and whether compensation should be paid to them, and those are quite different questions.