Pritt, K.C., who asked.
(1) whether the system called "knock," whereby prisoners under punishment are awakened by a warder knocking en their cell door at short intervals throughout the night, is or has recently been, in operation at Dartmoor; whether it has official sanction, and, if so, in what cireumstances; in how many cases in the last five years it has been applied; and whether he will take steps to put a stop to it; and (2) whether his attention has hi drawn to the case of a prisoner at Dartmoor who had a crippled arm and was certified insane and removed whether that prison is still at Broadmoor; whether he is now sane, and, if nót, from what form of insanity is he suffering; whether his insanity was brought about wholly or partly by his treatment in Dartmoor; whether his arm became crippled a result of an attack upon him by a prison officer at Dartmoor; and whether any inquiry has been, be, held into the circumstances under which his arm was crippled.
The Home Secretary replied as follows:—
(1) There is no foundation whatever for the hon. member's suggestion that such a system exists, or has recently existed, at Dartmoor or any other prison. I hope that the hon. member will let me know the source of this baseless story. I am sure he will agree that, in fairness to the prison s its author should not remain anonymous.
(2) I presume that the case referred to is that of a prisoner named A. H. Jackson, who in April of last year sustained a deep cut on his right forearm from broken glass. The circumstan s were fully investigated by Board of Visitor: whose inquiry showed that there was no foundation for the suggestion that he had been attacked by a prison officer The suggestion that the risener subsequently became insane owing to his treatment in prison is equally unfounded. His mental condition has improved, but he is still unfit to leave Broadmoor Asylum. He was suffering from delusional insanity
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.