§ Mr. Iremongerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now make a statement about the mentally ill patient from Claybury Hospital who committed suicide in one of Her Majesty's prisons recently; and if he will explain the procedure to be followed in future when mentally ill patients in hospital are charged with offences and remanded in custody.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsThis prisoner was accommodated in the prison hospital under close, but not continuous, supervision. I understand that the coroner's jury were invited to consider whether there had been negligence, but did not add any rider to their verdict that the prisoner killed himself while the balance of his mind was disturbed. I have great sympathy for the prisoner's relatives, and I am considering whether the case discloses any ground for amending the instructions about the precautions to be taken in such cases.