Mr. A. T. DAVIESasked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been directed to the case of George Elsley, a labourer, of Feltham, charged at Bow Street police court with smashing a window at the War Office; whether he is aware that the defendant stated in evidence that he had unsuccessfully petitioned the War Office to cause inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of his son while serving in the Army; whether the allegations of the defendant have been under consideration; and, if so, with what result?
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSI have seen in the public Press a report of Mr. Elsley's action. His son died in May, 1920, of pneumonia subsequent to breaking his leg whilst in detention barracks. The circumstances formed, at the time, the subject of a coroner's inquest and of an exhaustive military inquiry which Mr. Elsley attended. In the result he was informed, on 25th October, 1920, that it had not been established that his son was subjected to any1548W improper treatment and that the available evidence tended to show that his son's injuries were accidental. Much correspondence with Mr. Elsley has followed, and he has also been interviewed at length, and I am not aware of any new circumstances which would justify the re-opening of the case.