§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Whether his attention has been drawn to a case heard on the 20th inst. at Rathdrum, county Wicklow, before Dr. Traill, Colonel Kemmis, and Mr. Fritzell, Justices, in which Mr. Daniel O'Neill was fined on a summons charging him with having opened his licensed premises for the sale of intoxicating liquors at 11.15 A.M. on Sunday 2nd March, and the Justices refused to increase the fine in order to enable the defendant to appeal against their judgment; whether the evidence of the prosecuting constable was, that on the day in question he saw Mr. Byrne, a respectable farmer in the district, who was accompanied by his wife, drive his trap through an archway into a yard at the rear of the defendant's premises, and a few moments after saw Mr. Byrne pass from the stable, where he had put up his horse, through the yard and into the street, without entering the house; whether Mr. Byrne deposed that, on the occasion in question, he was on his way to Divine Service, and that for twenty years it had been his practice on Sundays to leave his horse and car on the defendant's premises while he himself was at prayers; 1021 whether the magistrates acted legally in fining the defendant, and in refusing him an appeal to the higher Court; and, what means of obtaining redress are open?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, several cases recently brought under my notice led me to believe that in the county of Wicklow, and possibly in some other parts of Ireland, some misapprehension existed as to the duty of the police with reference to cases where there was a primâ facie broach of the Licensing Laws in respect of persons found on licensed premises during prohibited hours, and that the consequence was that some cases were needlessly brought into Court. I therefore caused the case to be laid before the Law Officers of the Crown, and their opinion shows that I was right in my conjecture. Fresh instructions have, therefore, been, within the last two or three days, issued to the police, especially in the county of Wicklow, which will, I hope, have the effect of preventing any recurrence of such proceedings. With regard to the particular case mentioned in this Question, which was also the subject of a Question which the hon. Member for Wicklow (Mr. Corbet) had on the Paper yesterday, but which he was good enough to postpone at my request. I believe the facts are as stated. I cannot help regretting that this case was brought into Court; and I shall ask the Lord Lieutenant to consider whether it is not one in which his Excellency might properly remit the penalties. I may observe, however, that the refusal of the magistrates to increase the penalty did not deprive the defendant of the right of appeal. In cases under the Licensing Acts, as I am advised, this does not depend on the amount of the fine; and the defendant might have appealed to the Quarter Sessions if he had taken stops to do so in proper time.