Report / Gambia.

Date:
[1906]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report / Gambia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/26 (page 17)
    72. There is a fire brigade attached to the force consisting of one first-class sergeant at 155. per month, one second-class ser¬ geant at 125. per month, and eight constables at 85. per month. It is equipped with a Merryweather “ India Office ” pattern, No. 3 manual fire engine for 30 men, and pumps 136 gallons a minute 130 feet high. The number of calls to fires during the year were nine, as against 13 in 1905. (B.) Prisons. 73. There is only one prison in the Gambia, and that is at Bathurst, and it has accommodation for 30 male and five female prisoners. The building itself, though old, is quite sufficient for the present requirements of the Colony. 74. The daily average number of prisoners during the year was 12*53, as against 19*39 in 1905. Thirteen prisoners were undergoing sentence on the 1st January, 1906, and 85 were admitted during the year. Eighty men were discharged at the expiration of their sentences. One man earned the remission for exemplary conduct granted by the rules, two were found to be lunatics and sent to Sierra Leone, and one man escaped from custody and was not recaptured; one prisoner died from heart failure. 75. The expenditure on the prison was £693 85. hd., and the value of the work performed by the prisoners is estimated at £111 I85. 3d. 76. The sanitary condition of the institution was excellent, and the health of the prisoners very good. 77. It was not found necessary to inflict corporal punishment on any prisoner during the year, and generally the behaviour of the prisoners was excellent. (C.) Criminal Statistics. 78. During 1906, 126 cases came before the police court, which were dealt with as follows: — Discharged for want of prosecution or want of evidence ... 57 Dismissed on merits ... 14 Convicted ... 90 Committed for trial by Supreme Court ... 15 176 79. Of the 15 cases for trial by the Supreme Court one fell through for want of prosecution, three prisoners were acquitted, and eleven convicted. Two cases of murder were brought in as manslaughter by the jury, and there was also another case of manslaughter. 29566 B