HC Deb 21 November 1972 vol 846 cc371-2W
Mr. Clinton Davis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the names of criminal courts in inner and outer London where the practice is followed in certain cases, of causing persons, who have previously not been in custody and have surrendered to bail, to be led through the streets in handcuffs;

(2) if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the names of criminal courts in inner and outer London where the practice is followed, in certain cases, of causing persons, who have previously not been in custody and have surrendered to bail, to be detained in cells;

(3) if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT examples of the exceptional circumstances in which persons, appearing at the Inner London Crown Court, who have not been in custody and have surrendered to bail, are handcuffed while being escorted to and from court.

Mr. Carlisle

If a defendant's bail is not renewed by the Crown Court in the London area during the course of his trial he will be detained in a cell during any adjournment. The use of handcuffs is considered only if access to and from the court is through a public thoroughfare—as at the Crown Court at Inner London, Middlesex Guildhall, and Woodford; and at the Royal Courts of Justice—and the defendant is, for example, considered likely to attempt to escape or to do injury to himself or others.

Mr. Clinton Davis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons appearing at the Inner London Crown Court in 1971 and to date in 1972, who had not been in custody and had surrendered to bail were handcuffed while being escorted to and from court.

Mr. Carlisle

I regret that this information is not available.

Mr. Clinton Davis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records are maintained by the prison service as to the identity and number of persons, appearing at Crown Courts and the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, who have previously not been in custody and have surrendered to bail, and who have been escorted to and from court in handcuffs.

Mr. Carlisle

None.