HC Deb 02 May 1957 vol 569 cc346-7
13 Brigadier Clarke

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make available the details of inquiries that have taken place regarding confessions of guilt that exonerate Terence Darken from complicity in the crime for which he has been jailed;

(2) who conducted the inquiry into the conviction of Terence Darken; and what evidence was called by the court of inquiry;

(3) what inquiry there has been into the case of Terence Darken; and what have been its results.

Mr. R. A. Butler

The prisoner Darken pleaded guilty in January, 1956, to a charge of larceny as a servant. His solicitors wrote to me in February, 1957, a letter in which, for the first time, it was represented to me on behalf of the prisoner that he had pleaded guilty in order to obtain a lighter sentence and that in fact the crime had been committed by other persons who had intimidated him, in view of his record, into taking the blame. The solicitors forwarded a statement of another prisoner confessing that he and two other persons had been guilty and not Darken.

It is no part of my duty to retry a case, but I asked the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to make any necessary inquiries. I am satisfied, having considered all the representations made to me in the light of the police report, that there are not grounds on which I should be justified in recommending any interference with the conviction of the prisoner Darken and that no further action is called for on my part.

Brigadier Clarke

Does the Home Secretary agree that although Darken's past is reprehensible it there is a shadow of doubt as to his guilt he ought to he interviewed if there is any sort of inquiry? I understand that no one has seen Darken, or his wife, or anyone connected with his side of the story. In all these cases there must be two sides, but I understand that the man has never been interviewed.

Mr. Butler

I have made particular inquiries and find that the reason we have not done that is that we had such full representations from the prisoner's solicitors that we thought it unnecessary to interview the prisoner. I will pay attention to what my hon. and gallant Friend has said, but I think that we have all the information to make up our minds in this matter.