FLOGGING CONVICTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 376, 18 March 1932, Page 12

FLOGGING CONVICTS.

Not Authorised in N.Z. System. PRISON PUNISHMENTS. iNew Zealand’s comparative immunity from desperate criminals has never been more strikingly emphasised than it has by the English cables concerning the convicts’ mutiny at Dartmoor. A message to the effect 'that convicts are flogged on the reports of the warders shows that the prison laws of the Old Country are much more drastic than those of the Dominion, framed, obviously, to deal with criminals on whom the advantages of leniency would be wasted.

Even in England, a prisoner must be guilty of a most serious offence before the prison authorities order the use of the notorious and hated “ cat.” There is nothing attractive about the nine-thonged whip with its bound tips, and prominent authorities have termed it the most powerful of all deterrents to crimes of violence. At one time the crime of “ garroting ” was prevalent in London. The garroter would seize the opportunity, perhaps given by one of the city’s dense fogs, steal up behind his victim and choke him into insensibility before going through h-'s pockets at leisure. It was when judges included a dose of the “ cat ” in garroters’ sentences that this bruta 1 type of crime was stamped out. Incidentally, the “cat o’ nine tails” must be wielded by an expert. The regulations lay down that the prisoner shall be flogged on the shoulders They further insist that no thong shall touch the neck, and none the ribs low down, so that the man behind the whip has a limited target on which to Uy his nine lashes. Serious attacks on warders or other prisoners, or persistent and malicious breaches of certain prison regulations, are the only offences for which the English convict is liable to flogging. Floggings are not often needed, but the type of criminal in some of the prisons ensures the fairly regular employment of the whip. Dealing With Offences.

The New Zealand prison regulations make no provision whatsoever for flogging for prison offences. Minor offences can be dealt with by visiting Justices of the Peace, but “ aggravated ” offences must be considered by an ordinary court of law, and the prisoner must be present right through the proceedings. Minor offences include common assault on another prisoner, disobedience of regulations, profanity, indecent behaviour, irreverence at Divine service, idleness at work and insults or threats to prison officials. Punishments for minor offences include close confinement in a light cell, with or without irons, not longer than twenty-four hours, a diet of bread and water for not more than three days; loss of privilege and forfeiture of good conduct marks, which influence remission of sentence.

Major, or aggravated, offences, include personal violence to an officer, escaping or attempting to escape, aggravated or repeated assault on a prisoner, making a wound or a sore, pretending illness and preferring false or frivolous complaints against a prison official. The punishments for these offences include close confinement with or without irons for a period up to thirty days, a bread and w T ater diet up to fourteen days, keeping the offender at hard labour up to one year in cases where the original sentence does not include hard labour, and forfeiture of marks representing not more than one year’s remission of sentence.

In cases where a flogging is ordered by the Supreme Court as part of the sentence for brutal or bestial crimes, the sentence is carried out in the presence of the prison surgeon. If in his opinion the convict is in a dangerous state before the allotted number of lashes has been given, he stops the minishment immediately. Every punishment given a prisoner, no matter how trivial, must be reported to the Department and brought under the notice of the Minister concerned.