§ Captain Gunterasked the Secretary of State for War if he will institute an immediate inquiry into the circumstances whereby Gunner David Pirie Hay, of the Cameron Highlanders, was recently charged before a court martial with offences which had previously been the subject of a charge before a civilian court, at a time when Gunner Hay was entitled to assume that he had been demobilised.
§ Mr. Lawson:On 12th January a number of men dressed in civilian clothes broke into a military dance at Kirkwall, and one of them struck the officer in charge of the dance. The man who was alleged to have struck the officer, Gunner Hay, was arrested by the civil police. It subsequently transpired that he was a soldier on release leave and therefore subject to military discipline. The civil police asked that the case should be dealt with by the military authorities. Steps were therefore taken to recall Gunner Hay from leave and on 27th March he was tried by court martial on charges under Section 8 (2) and Section 40 of the Army Act. He was found not guilty on the first charge and guilty on the second charge. He was sentenced to seven days' detention, which has now been completed. Gunner Hay was never tried by a civil court as the civil charge against him was dropped in view of the fact that the Army authorities had agreed to dispose of the case