Mr. LLEWELYN WILLIAMSasked the Under-Secretary of Slate for War whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Ithel Davies, who was conscripted into the 4th Royal Welsh Fusiliers early in 1916 and who has consistently refused to obey military orders on the ground of conscientious objection; whether Ithel Davies has undergone imprisonment for over two years for disobedience and was released from prison at the end of March last; whether, on his release from prison, he was ordered to wear military uniform and, on his refusal, he was taken to camp at Oswestry and afterwards to Kinmel Park, where he was to be tried by court-martial on 16th April; whether, having regard to Section 68 of the Army Act, which enacts that no offender under the Act shall be subject to imprisonment or detention for more than two consecutive years under one or more sentences, it is competent for any court-martial to pass a further sentence on Ithel Davies; and whether the Government will consider the possibility of releasing unconditionally all such men who have proved their conscientious objection by serving long terms of imprisonment?
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§ Mr. MACPHERSONIf my hon. Friend will refer to Sub-section 2 of Section 68 of the Army Act and the last sentence of Note 2 to that Section on page 452 of the Manual of Military Law he will see that a court-martial is so competent. The answer to the last portion of my hon. Friend's question is in the negative.