HC Deb 22 October 1953 vol 518 cc288-94W
82. Mr. Bing

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the understanding that the procedure of Mr. Scott Henderson's inquiry would be in accordance with the rules of natural justice, he will review the conduct of the inquiry in the light of the facts that counsel were not permitted cross-examine, that Mr. Scott Henderson refused to put questions to Christie and other witnesses which they requested, that certain of them were excluded from hearing the evidence of witnesses they themselves had suggested and that they were not supplied with transcripts of the case of Regina v. Christie or allowed to peruse the transcript of the evidence at the inquiry before making their submissions.

89. Mr. Foot

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, in the case of a witness whose name has been communicated to him by the hon. Member for Devonport, the representatives of the party at whose instance this witness was called were merely permitted to read to Mr. Scott Henderson the substances of the proof of her evidence and were excluded from the examination of the witness.

93. Mr. Paget

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that at least one counsel permitted to assist at the Scott Henderson inquiry never received a copy of the transcript of Regina v. Christie at all and only received a copy of the transcript of Regina v. Evans in the course of the morning of Thursday, 9th July; and whether, in these circumstances, he will state what arrangements were made in regard to furnishing counsel and solicitors with copies of the transcript of these trials.

97. Mr. S. Silverman

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, at Mr. Scott Henderson's inquiry, counsel were not permitted to peruse the transcript of the evidence taken or to see copies of the committal proceedings of Evans or copies of the statement made to the police by Christie in December, 1949.

98. Mr. Wigg

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, at an early stage in his inquiry, Mr. Scott Henderson informed counsel that the solicitors instructing them were to be excluded from the proceedings; and what representations on the matter he has received.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

I appointed Mr. Scott Henderson as an independent person to review all the available material relating to the deaths of Mrs. Evans and of Geraldine Evans, including material which had become available since the trial of Timothy John Evans, and to report whether in his opinion there was any ground for thinking that there had been any miscarriage of justice in the conviction of Evans.

The procedure followed at the inquiry was a matter entirely within the discretion of Mr. Scott Henderson, but I cannot accept the imputation that it was not properly and fairly conducted. The inquiry was not a retrial or an appeal; the tribunal was not a court; there were no parties to the proceedings; and the examination of witnesses was a matter for Mr. Scott Henderson, not for counsel.

Only two of the specific matters referred to in the Questions are within my personal knowledge. First, I received representations from the Law Society objecting to the exclusion of a solicitor from the proceedings; I made inquiry and was informed that the solicitor was not in fact excluded. Secondly, I received only one request for access to a transcript; this was a request from solicitors for a copy of the transcript of the trial of Evans, which was at once supplied.

83. Mr. Bing

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a carpenter, whose name and address have been communicated to him by the hon. and learned Member for Hornchurch, offered to give evidence at the Scott Henderson inquiry in regard to the timber behind which the bodies of Mrs. Evans and her child were concealed; that his evidence, if true, would tend to establish Evans' innocence; that Mr. Scott Henderson never saw this witness; and whether in these circumstances he will himself see the witness and, if he considers his evidence to be material, cause the inquiry to be reopened.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

As regards the first part of the Question, I have nothing to add to the remarks made by Mr. Scott Henderson in paragraphs 6 to 9 of his supplementary report. The answer to the last part of the Question is, no.

84. Mr. G. H. R. Rogers

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the evidence given at the trial of Timothy John Evans by Detective Inspector Black he will arrange to have published a further supplementary report by Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., giving a summary of the evidence which led him to state in paragraph 29 of his report that he was satisfied that nothing was said to Evans at Notting Hill Police Station relating to the bodies of Mrs. Evans and her child and the cause of the death other than what was said in evidence by Chief Inspector Jennings at Evans' trial.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

No. Mr. Scott Henderson has dealt fully with this matter in paragraph 29 of his first report and in paragraphs 14 and 15 of his supplementary report, and I see no reason to ask him for a further report.

85. Mr. G. H. R. Rogers

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why a letter written by Mrs. Evans, mother of the late Timothy Evans, which was at his trial in part excluded as irrelevant and prejudicial was published in full in the Scott Henderson Report without Mrs. Evans' permission.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

Only part of this letter was read out in court at the trial of Evans, but this was not because the remainder was excluded by the Judge as inadmissible, and the whole of the letter was an exhibit in the proceedings. I see no reason to think that Mrs. Evans' consent to its publication in Mr. Scott Henderson's report was required.

86. Mr. G. H. R. Rogers

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has refused to accede to the request of Mrs. Evans, mother of the late Timothy Evans, that her evidence before the Scott Henderson inquiry should be published.

92. Mr. Hale

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that in his statement to the police on 8th June, 1953, John Christie stated that the late Mrs. Christie had made a statement to the police, on or about 1st December, 1949, in regard to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Mrs. Evans and her child; and if he will arrange for a copy of it to be placed in the Library of the House.

96. Mr. S. Silverman

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will arrange for there to be placed in the Library of the House, copies of the committal proceedings in regard to the murder charges against Timothy John Evans.

99. Mr. Wigg

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a statement made on or about 1st December, 1949, to police officers at Notting Hill Police Station by John Reginald Christie in regard to the murders of Mrs. Beryl Evans and her child Geraldine Evans was not included in the report of Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C.; and whether, in these circumstances, he will arrange for Christie's statement to be published.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

As I have indicated in reply to previous Questions, Mr. Scott Henderson had before him all the material which he considered relevant for the purposes of his inquiry and he included in his report such extracts from, and summaries of, the material, both oral and written, as he judged to be relevant and necessary. He has since submitted a supplementary report dealing with certain specific questions raised by hon. Members in the debate in this House on 29th July. I do not propose to publish any further material.

87. Mr. Poole

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the report of Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., into the Rillington Place murders contains a verbatim account of certain portions of the evidence given before Mr. Scott Henderson by the chaplain of Pentonville prison, the prison medical officer at Brixton, Dr. Hobson, and by Christie himself; and whether, in view of his undertaking that this inquriy would be private, he authorised the publication of this evidence.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

Although some of the evidence at Mr. Scott Henderson's inquiry was given in confidence, much of it, including that of the witnesses referred to by the hon. Member, was not so given. Mr. Scott Henderson accordingly thought it proper to set out in his report the material parts of this evidence, instead of a summary.

88. Mr. Foot

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that Christie stated to Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., on 9th July, that on 8th July he had been informed that no definite proof existed that he had murdered Mrs. Evans; and whether he will make inquiries as to how this information was passed to Christie.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

Christie received three groups of visitors on 8th July. One of these groups consisted of two police officers. I am assured that the information referred to by the hon. Member was not given to Christie by these officers. I do not know what may have been said to Christie by his other visitors.

90. Mr. Hale

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will have placed in the Library of the House copies of the cuttings from newspapers dealing with the death of a man named Setty found by the police in the flat of Timothy Evans in December, 1949.

95. Mr. S. Silverman

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that the newspaper cuttings alleged to have been found in the flat of Timothy Evans by the police on 1st December, 1949, were not shown at the inquiry to counsel despite a request from them; and if he will ask for a supplementary report on this point.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

I am informed that, although the police found newspaper cuttings relating to the case of Setty in Evans' flat, they did not take possession of them or make copies of them.

91. Mr. Hale

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the time of day on Monday, 13th July, when Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., delivered to him the report of his inquiry into the death of Mrs. Evans and her child and the conviction therefor of Timothy John Evans.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

Mr. Scott Henderson showed to me a draft of his report at 2.45 p.m. on 13th July, and I discussed it fully with him. The final report was delivered at 7.15 p.m. on that day.

94. Mr. Paget

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that at the Scott Henderson inquiry into the Rillington Place murders evidence was given by a police officer that when Evans was shown the clothes of his wife and child prior to his making a statement, the clothes of the wife were in one heap and the clothes of the child in another with the tie with which the child had been strangled with the child's heap; and whether, in view of the importance of this evidence, he will arrange for Mr. Scott Henderson to make a further supplementary report setting out in full the transcript of this evidence.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

All the relevant information was before Mr. Scott Henderson and I see no reason to ask him to add anything to the views which he has already expressed in his reports.

122. Mr. Bing

asked the Attorney-General whether he is aware that certain workmen, who included a carpenter, a plasterer and a plasterer's mate, together with their employer made statements to the police in December, 1949, in regard to the circumstances surrounding the murders of Mrs. Evans and her child; that these witnesses were neither called by the prosecution nor were their names supplied to the defence; and whether, in these circumstances he will cause an inquiry to be made into these matters.

The Attorney-General

I am satisfied that there was no departure from the ordinary practice in connection with the evidence of these workmen and I agree with the view of Mr. Scott Henderson, as given in his Supplementary Report, that there was no reason either to call them as witnesses or to supply their names to the defence. I see no ground for any further inquiry.