Mr. Edward M. Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his attention has been directed to the recent case in the High Court in which the present law prevented the judge from imposing any meaningful sentence on a prisoner serving a life sentence who had pleaded guilty to assaulting a prison officer; what steps he will take to deal with such situations arising in the future; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ross:The fact that a further sentence has been imposed on a life prisoner will be given full weight when the Secretary of State is considering how long he should serve. I cannot agree, therefore, that such a sentence has no meaning.