HC Deb 18 July 1974 vol 877 cc636-7
1. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will inquire into the circumstances in which Mr. George Pottinger, serving a sentence of five years' imprisonment for corruptly receiving gifts whilst in the Civil Service, is receiving favoured treatment, details of which have been sent to him, in the course of the prisoner's appeal.

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

The prisoner did not receive favoured treatment during the hearing of his appeal, and the details in the newspaper report to which my hon. Friend has drawn my attention are either incorrect or misleading.

Mr. Hamilton

I am glad of that assurance, but will my right hon. Friend say whether other prisoners in similar circumstances would be allowed to transfer from the prison to the Appeal Court by private car, or would normally be put in Brixton Prison overnight, as was suggested in the newspaper report? Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance that Mr. Pottinger has not been and will not be treated more favourably than any other prisoner purely by virtue of his social status?

Mr. Jenkins

I do not think that he should be treated either more favourably or less favourably by virtue of that. I give the assurances which my hon. Friend wants. The vehicles used for the journeys to and from the Appeal Court were vehicles which were under contract to the Prison Department and are habitually so used for the transport of prisoners. To take another example, it is perfectly true that Pottinger occupies a single room at Ford Prison, but so do more than 100 other prisoners. One hundred out of 106 prisoners over 50 are in this block. There is no evidence of special privileges having been given. If such evidence were brought to my notice, I should look into it.

Mr. Anthony Stodart

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of newspaper reports that Mr. Pottinger may be transferred to a prison in Scotland? If so, does the right hon. Gentleman say that there would be nothing unusual about that, and that no special privilege would be involved?

Mr. Jenkins

I am not aware of such reports, and the matter has not been under my consideration, but prisoners are frequently transferred between England and Scotland.