§ The Secretary of State for Social Services (Sir Keith Joseph)With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I wish to make a personal explanation.
In my reply to a supplementary question by the right hon. Lady the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) last Tuesday about the death of a patient in South Ockendon Hospital in February, 1969, I said that the acquittal of David Burles 1441 on a charge of manslaughter of a fellow patient in the hospital was, as far as I was aware, not on the ground whether he was the killer but, I understood, on the ground that he was not fit to plead. I much regret that this was not correct.
The facts are that in April, 1969, Mr. Burles appeared at Essex Assizes on a charge of manslaughter and was then found unfit to be tried. He appealed against this finding, and in December, 1969, the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal and ordered that he should be tried for the offence. In January, 1970, the prosecution offered no evidence against him and he was accordingly found not guilty. I much regret that I inadvertently misled the House, and I also regret any imputation this may appear to have left on the character of Mr. Burles, who, as the right hon. Lady stated, has been completely cleared of this charge.
I particularly regret that I did not take the opportunity which the right hon. Lady gave me, with your agreement, Mr. Speaker, to correct my mistake.