HC Deb 27 October 1949 vol 468 cc1505-6
34. Mr. Peter Freeman

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long Mr. Seyoum Berhane, aged 22, was detained in Brixton Prison following his escape from the Russian zone of Germany.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Ede)

I cannot trace that this Abyssinian was ever in the Russian zone of Germany, and he was certainly not escaping from that country when he came here as a stowaway on the "Lucrino" on 14th May, 1949. He was refused leave to land and was put back on board ship, but he absconded from the ship on the day it sailed. He was not arrested until the 19th August, 1949, nearly three months after he had absconded. He was detained in Brixton Prison until 2nd October, when he was put on board the "Ercole," the first ship belonging to the owners of the "Lucrino" to leave the United Kingdom after his arrest.