§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Wiltshire on the circumstances under which a woman was held in custody at Devizes police station on the nights of 16 and 17 February; on whose authority she was held; and what was the charge;
(2) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Wiltshire on the circumstances under which four women were held in custody at Devizes police station on the night of Friday 15 February; on whose authority they were held there; and what were the charges.
§ Mr. BrittanI understand from the chief constable of Wiltshire that four women were arrested by Ministry of Defence police on 15 November after an incident during a military exercise on Salisbury Plain. They were taken to Devizes police station and held in police custody in accordance with section 43 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980 until it was practicable to bring them before a court. They appeared in court on the morning of Saturday 16 November and were charged with trespassing on Ministry of Defence land. The woman held in Devizes police station on the nights of 16 and 17 February had been arrested in similar circumstances and was detained in police custody under the same authority. She appeared before magistrates on the morning of Monday 18 February and was charged with trespassing on Ministry of Defence land.
§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why a special magistrate's court was held in Devizes police station on Saturday 16 February.
§ Mr. MellorI understand that Devizes police station is appointed as an occasional court-house under section 147 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 and that the magistrates' court sits there whenever there are cases to be heard and its normal accommodation is unavailable, as happened on Saturday 16 February.