RELEASED ON LICENSE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 41, 14 November 1927, Page 8

RELEASED ON LICENSE

AFTER EIGHTEEN YEARS IN GAOL

ALLEGED MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

BY Telegraph.—Press association Copyright.

London, November 11.

Captain W. G. Elliott, Under-Secre-tary for Scotland, in answer to a question in the House of Commons, said he felt justified in releasing on license, as soon as arrangements could be made, Oscar Slater, who was convicted of the murder of Miss Gilchrist in Glasgow. Slater received a life sentence, of which he has served 18j years. A section of the Press and many prominent men have long sought the release of Slater. The German Foreign Office points out that it cannot take up Slater’s case till he applies for repatriation, as he forfeited his German citizenship by going to live in Scotland to avoid conscription. “Slater’s release is only the beginning of tilings,” said Sir Conan Doyle, who has fought ceaselessly for Slater’s vindication. Sir Conan Doyle adds: “Slater is now an old and broken man, and no effort must be spared to ensure that his sufferings are productive of some good. This is the greatest police scandal of modern times. It is evident that the judicial authorities made the gravest of mistakes, and anyone who happened to be walking the Glasgow streets at the same time as Slater might have been found g ijlty.” Sir Conan Dovle is now framing a petition to Parliament for a full inquiry into Slater’s arrest and trial, urging also that he be compensated. Slater’s release is the result of a message he sent to Sir Conan Doyle, written on a piece of paper wrapped in glazed paper and hidden in the holTow tooth of a prisoner discharged from Peterhead Gaol in 1925.