The Express.
London, England, 1846-10-21 00:00:00

SURREY QUARTER SESSIONS.

The general quarter sessions for the county of Surrey were
held today at the Court-house, Kingston.
OVER-FILLED PRISONS.—It appeared, by the reports of
the governors of the different Houses of Correction, that
their establishments were not sufficiently capacious to con-
tain the increased number of prisoners committed to them ;
and that, during the intensely hot weather, three and four
pri•oners had been confined at night in one small cell.—Mr.
Johnson said that, after hearing the reports that hail been
read with regard to the crowded state of their gaol., and
when they considered the sufferings to which the unfortunate
prisoners must of necessity have been subjected, ha thought
that, without pledging themselves to any particular system,
it was necessary that something should be done to remedy
the existing evil. lie, therefore, moved that a committee
be appointed to take the subject into consideration, and report
upon the best means to be adopted to provide adequate gaol
accommodation in the county. The motion waa carried
unanimously.
THE CASE OF MARIA ROAST —Mr. Parrett said he
should be glad if Mr. Sibley, the keeper of the House of Cor-
rection at Brixton, would give some explanation in reference
to the charge that had been made aga-nst him in the public
prints, of having ill-used one of the female prisoners in his
charge. The case referred to will he fresh in the recollection
of the public as having been heard at the Lambeth Police
Court, where it appeared that a woman named Maria
Roast bad been kept for twenty-four hours with her
hands handcuffed behind her hack. Mr. l'arrett
inquired whether it was ecrrettly stated that the
woman had two pairs of handcuffs on ?—The governor re-
plied that it was the fact, but he seas not aware of it. The
turnkey without his knowledge had put on a second pair
upon finding that the first were much too large.—The Chair-
man said that by Rule 80 of the Gaol Regulations the go-
Tensor of a prison had the power given him to handcuff a
prisoner, but it could he o, ly done where he considered it
absolutely neceasary; and then he was bound to report the
circumstance and to make an entry in his book, and lie
could not keep a prisoner in that state over 21 hours, with-
out the order of one of the visiting justices.—Mr. Briscoe
remarked that at all events this ru'e had been violated, for
the power was only delegated to the governor himself and
not' to a turnkey. —Mr. Barclay said, that as one'
of the visiting justices of Brixton, he had thought
it right to make inquiry into this circumstance, but upon
becoming acquainted with the facts, it was not considered
necessary to make special allusion to it in their report. Al-
though he acquitted the governor of the charge of cruelty
that had been made against him, he must express an opinion
that it was very improper to use handcuffs in this manner,
and he considered it little better than a species of torture.
He believed that in the present instance what had been done
was absolutely necessary for the peace of the prison, but
he hoped before long the use of irons in prisons would he
altogether abolished.—ln answer to questions put by the
court, Mr. Sibley described the conduct (lithe woman, which
appeared to have been of the most violent and outrageous
description. She was first placed in a dark cell, where she
was aept twenty.four hours, but this had no effect. She tore
up her clothes and bedding, and assaulted the turnkey,
who went into the cell, in a must violent and beastly
manner; and then it appeared the handcuff. were
placed on her. The explanations given by the gover-
nor appeared to he perfectly satisfactory to the majority
of the court, and Mr. Nicholson said he thought the question
was one of so much importance that he considered it would
only be right that a resolution to that effect should be peed
by the court.—Mr. Humane said he could not agree to such a
motion. Ile knew nothing of the case before, but what he
had heard satisfied him that the punishment was an exceed-
ingly improper one. Ile was of opinion that if the prisoner
had been placed in a solitary cell it would have had the
desired effect, and that putting her in a dark cell, and plac-
ing
handcuffs on her, was only calculated to harden her and
induce her to persevere in her disorderly conduct.—The
motion was then formally put and carried. 'l'he court at the
same time rxpreasing regret that two pair of handcuffs had I
been made use of, although it did not appear that the addi-
tional pair had caused increase of punishment.
FLOW:ING IN ti sol.s.—Mr. Briscoe then made a motion
in pursuance of a notice he gave at the last sessions, that the ;
recommendations contained in the last report of the Prison
Inspectors—that the practice of Hogging boys under 14 years
of age with the cat o'-nine-taila, in the gaols, should be IIiNCOII.
tinued—should be carried into effect. He would merely read
to them the statement made by the Prison Inspectors, from
which it appeared that, iu 1844, 33 boys had been flogged ;
in 1845, 39; and in the following half year, 17. Of these, I
one was a child 8 years old; another was 10, who hail re-
ceived 24 lashes ; and one boy of 12, after receiving 13 lashes,
fainted, and was declared by the surgeon unable to bear any
more. The Inspectors went oil to state, that the cat was of
the orcinary description, and it was used entirely at the
discretion of the governor; but, when it was used to any
young lads, three of the ladiev were tied up. Mr. Briscoe
concluded by moving that the recommendation as to the dis-
continuance of the cat-u'-nine-tails to boys under four-
teen years of age be adopted. —Mr. Amain seconded
the motion, and only regretted that it ,lid not go to
the extent of abolishing such a punishment altogether.—
Colonel Challenor said that they should not forget that this
degrading and horrible punishment, as it wassailed, was very
freely made use of at )-ton and the other public schools, as
many gentlemen he saw around him could no doubt testify.
(A laugh.) Tkey bad very strong reason to remember the
black rod avid the right arm of the master after they hail
been guilty of driving a tendon or hunting a badger. (Re. I
newest laughter.) He agreed with Mr. Barclay, and thought
that many a boy would have been saved from ruin if the
magistrates had the power to order a flogging instead of send-
ing a young lad to undergo the form of a trial. If the boy
Jones had been well flogged at first, he would never have
gone a second time to the l'alace. (Much laughter.)—
The motion was put, but as the only magistrates who held
up their hands in favour of it were the mover and seconder,
it was of course lost by a large majority.