NAME CLEARED AT LAST

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 413, 23 July 1928, Page 9

NAME CLEARED AT LAST

OSCAR SLATER’S CASE COMPENSATION DEMANDED TWENTY YEARS IN GAOL (United P.A. —By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (United Service) LONDON, Saturday. The dramatic clearance of Oscar Slater’s name in the same court in which, 19 years ago, he was sentenced to death, has few j in the history of British justice. Compensation on a generous scale will be given to Slater, according to competent authorities. Sums varying from £15,000 to £20,000 are mentioned, hut at present any figure is merely speculation. The Home Secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, and the Secretary for Scotland, Sir John Gilmour, will hold consultations with the law officers and other members of the Government before any recommendation is brought before Cabinet.

The newspapers insist that the compensation must be commensurate with the great agony suffered by Slater, although they unanimously admit that it is almost impossible adequately to compensate Slater. It is recalled that Adolphe Beck, who was wrongly sentenced to imprisonment for seven years in 1895, was awarded £5,000 as compensation. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who has' strongly supported Slater’s case, hopes the responsible officials who refused for years to do anything in the matter will be sharply pulled up. The Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, says the whole ease fills one with horror. It is, he says, clearly the duty of the Government to give full compensation. HOW SLATER HEARD Slater was present in the public gallery when judgment was delivered. His sole thought when he realised what the judgment meapt was almost to run from the Corjrt. He listened intently, not betraying any emotion, resting his head on his left arm. As the Lord Justice-General read the unanimous judgment of acquittal, he kept a piercing gaze on the Judge unfalteringly. It was not until the final paragraphs of the judgment were read that the decision was apparent. When it was finished Slater stood up suddenly. His face was livid with red patches. It seemed as if he did not at first realise what it meant. Then he hurried out, brushing aside those persons who tried to congratulate him.