§ MR. M'CARTAN (Down, S.)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to the arrest of Mr. Fred Henderson, at Norwich, on the occasion of the visit of the Marquess of Salisbury 1140 to that town on the night of the 27th July; whether mounted Constable Mills rode up to Henderson, when addressing a meeting at the Agricultural Hull Plain, and threatened to ride him down if he (Henderson) would not leave the place; whether Constable Mills, on hearing Henderson call out "No violence, friends; give three groans for Salisbury," rode his horse again, at Henderson; whether at Bank Plain Constable Mills struck and wounded Henderson on the head; whether Henderson was then arrested by Mills and another mounted constable, and dragged off between their two horses at a trot through London Street to the Guildhall, kept all night in the police cell, and brought before a Bench of Magistrates on the following morning, when he was charged with, riot; whether it is true, as stated in the report of the trial appearing in the Norwich Daylight of the 30th July, that the magistrates "discharged" Henderson without calling upon any of the numerous witnesses present for the defence; and whether lie will cause an inquiry to be made into the conduct of the mounted constables with reference to the arrest of Henderson?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)I have obtained a Report from the Mayor on this case. Constable Mills denies having threatened to ride down Henderson, and he states that he was not present when Henderson called for "three groans for Salisbury," and that he did not strike or wound him on the head. Henderson, at the time of his arrest, was not addressing a meeting; but, as I understand, was, with a large crowd, demanding admission to the hall, which was already full. The police, thinking that a riot was imminent, made frequent appeals to Henderson to go away: but he refused. He was then arrested and taken by two mounted constables and some other policemen to the station, and charged before the magistrates with riot and disturbance; but as there was no evidence of this adduced he was discharged. I do not propose to inquire any further into the conduct of the police on this occasion. The Town Council are the proper authority to inquire into any alleged misconduct on their part, and any complaint should be addressed to them.