§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) for what offences the prisoner who miscarried in October at Her Majesty's prison, Maghaberry was being held in custody;
(2) if he will outline the circumstances in which a prisoner in Her Majesty's prison, Maghaberry had a miscarriage in October.
§ Mr. Scott[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1986]: No prisoner miscarried in Maghaberry women's prison during the month of October. A prisoner who was committed to the prison on 27 October for seven days for non-payment of fines imposed for motoring offences was released on the following day on payment of the balance owing. It was subsequently reported in the press that she had a miscarriage on 29 October.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the practice of strip searching pregnant women in Her Majesty's prison, Maghaberry.
§ Mr. Scott[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1986]: All women prisoners are strip searched on initial reception and before discharge, and on certain other occasions; there are other circumstances in which searches are carried out on a random basis. Where a prisoner is known to be pregnant, a hospital officer is present during the search, but this did not happen in the case which gave rise to the question. However in this case, the prisoner was examined by the prison medical officer later on the day of her reception; no abnormalities were evident, and she made no complaints of any kind.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what medical or psychiatric evidence he has received concerning the extent to which strip searching was a contributory factor in the miscarriage of a prisoner in Her Majesty's prison Maghaberry in October.
§ Mr. Scott[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1986]: Naturally I regret that the woman should have had a miscarriage after her discharge from prison; but I am 162W aware of no evidence to suggest that the searches carried out during the short period that she was in prison were in any way a contributory factor.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions a pregnant woman in Her Majesty's prison Maghaberry was subject to strip searches in the week before she miscarried; and if he will indicate the number of times over the previous seven days she was strip searched each day before her miscarriage.
§ Mr. Scott[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1986]: The prisoner was strip searched twice—on reception and prior to her discharge the following day.