§ 37. Mr. Macdonaldasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the question put in the letter from the hon. Member for Chislehurst dated 20th March, and in earlier letters dated 5th January and 15th February, about the investigation of a case of alleged police brutality in the hon. Member's constituency.
§ Mr. TaverneI have written to my hon. Friend today. As I explained in my replies to his earlier letters, I cannot comment on the allegations made by his constituents whilst the case is sub-judice.
§ Mr. MacdonaldI am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for that reply after all this time. Is he not aware that while these rumours are circulating, either they are untrue, in which case they are detrimental to the police and should be refuted, or they are true, in which case at least three of my constituents are suffering grievous wrong? What prevents my hon. and learned Friend from referring it to a committee of investigation as he is required to do from time to time by the 1964 Police Act?
§ Mr. TaverneThe difficulty about investigating these allegations is that they are entirely concerned with issues which will be before the court. It might pre- 1364 judice decisions of the court, and police interviewing the accused in connection with matters raised at the trial might not be acceptable to the defence.