§ 88. Mr. Hollisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what report he has received from the Governor of Walton Gaol on the execution of Alfred Burns.
§ 90. Mr. W. Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received on the confessions of guilt made on the scaffold by the two persons executed at Liverpool Prison last week; and why, contrary to usual practice, a public announcement of these confessions was made by the Governor.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeIt is contrary to long-established practice to disclose whether or not a prisoner has made a confession of guilt before his execution, and I am not prepared to make any exception to that practice in the present case or to indicate the nature of the reports submitted to me by the Governor. The Governor of the prison did not make any public announcement in the sense 109W suggested, and I am assured that no prison officer made any communication to the Press on this subject.