APPEAL TO THE KING

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 100, 1 May 1935, Page 10

APPEAL TO THE KING

.Convicts Ask for Clemency n. dramatic appeal i 3 to be made to the King for clemency in this his jubilee year on behalf of 10 Dartmoor mutineers, all ex-service men, at present serving sentences at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. It is being prepared by a forger, who, having completed a term of three years’ imprisonment, was released on ticket-of-leave recently. “There are at least 400 ex-service-men at Parkhurst,” he told an interviewer. “Although the Dartmoor men are particularly mentioned in the petition to the King, it is intended to appeal on behalf of all the prisoners in every gaol throughout Britain. “For months past now the principal topic at Parkhurst has been the King’s jubilee. A rumour went round the prison that the King was to grant some special concession to mark the occasion. The petition was discussed quite openly in the recreation hall during ‘evening recreation,’ and it was prepared there. Then I memorised it, sentence by sentence, in the quietude of my cell. “It was obviously _ impossible _ to carry any signed petition from prison. It would have been a very serious breach of prison discipline, and at this time that is the last thing any prisoner is anxious to commit. We have made a special point about the ex-service-men. They fought in the King’s armies during the war, and, although crim‘inals, they are still loyal subjects of His'Majesty. Not one of the prisoners expects to be freed, but they would bo heartened and their families gladdened .were some little concession announced.” The petition contains the following passages: —“We humbly beseech Your Majesty that this great and memorable day of May 6 next shall bring great happiness to every one of your loyal subjects throughout the world, and we appeal to you to use your Eoyal Prerogative at granting clemency to the men concerned in the Dartmoor mutiny and to ex-servicemen generally. We appeal for some mark of Royal mercy for all convicts and prisoners throughout the country. Once we formed part of that great and glorious army, the British Expeditionary Force. W 5 may have committed crimes; wo may deserve our punishment, but no one can take from us our pride that in the country's hour of peril we did not fail Y'our Majesty ”