SCENE IN NELSON GAOL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 284, 21 August 1880, Page 2

SCENE IN NELSON GAOL.

It was the publication of_. the'following statements in a Wellington paper, by an ex-warder, that induced the Government to order that a strict inquiry shall b-j made into the management of •he Nelson Gaol. We would merely add that if a tithe of the " ex warder's " allegations prove tru.*, the matter should not be allowed to en<l with the inquiry : •' The first thing that struck me was the total disregard of all humane prin ciples in dealing with refractory prisoners, and the easy manner in which inquiry into complaints made by prisoners to the visiting justices was avoided, neither the prisoner who complained nor any other witness being called to give evidence. One instanc of thi kind will suffice . a prisonor named Thompson was transferred from the Wanganui to the Nelson Gaol to undergo a sentetic ■■ of eighteen month's hard labor. Before he was sent to Nelson, he was examined by Drs Tripe and Ear., and pronounced to be insane. He Was, then-lore, sent to Nelson in a straight jacket, and there placed in the Lunatic Asylum. After remaining there some time he was sent back to the gaol, but it was observed that Iu- frequently showed symptoms of incipient insanity. On one of these occasions he was committed to the solitary cell lor fourteen days fur refusing to go to worn; and, as it may easily bo imagined, one effect of such solitary confinement upon one bordering upon insanity was that he made use of obscen* language. This proceeding being objected to Police Sergeant Nash and Constable Withers were brought to the gaol at midnight and instructed to handcuff the prisoner's hands behind h s back. After this was done a rope was lashed round his ankles and then passeJ between his aims pnd drawn tightly up, so that the prisoner's position was that of a man kneeling with his hip resting on his beelfl. This was apparently not thought sufficient punishment, and a gag was hastily improvised out of a piece of wood, and alter being fitted into the prisoi/Vs mouth it was founJ to be rather small, so a rag v»as procured and wound round the wooden gag, to completely prev nt the prisoner from speakiug. He was left in this position for three quarters of an hour, and when tha handcuffs were removed it was discovered that his ankles and wrists were swollen to a fearful extent. The man was tenibly exh.>u.*ted, and could hardly articulate " water." I am quite aware that the Visiting Justices professed to have inquired into this gagfiirj case, but I positively assert that the man who wat.gagged was not a ought before the Justices, neither were v ol the gaol officials concerned in the matter examined. The solitary dark cell, or, in gaol parlance, " the dummy/' is »n apartment where a prisoner under sentence is compelled to rmain in t< tal darkness. Two blankets are alloweii, but no mat trass. I have known, when an unfortunate wretch h»s been inaied to Uiis cell, that water has been poured under the cell dot r to fright n the prisoner, who being in total darkness, was unable to ascertain or imagine the cause."