§ MR. M'COANasked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to a case tried on Friday last at the Petty Sessions at Baltinglass, county Wicklow, in which a lad named Wall was, in default of finding bail in forty shillings, sentenced by three magistrates to one month's im- 1845 prisonment for the offence of calling a process-server named Lucas "mallet head;" and, whether he approves of such a sentence for such an offence?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)I have caused inquiry to be made into this matter, although I must again repeat what has been frequently stated before in reply to Questions similar to this, that the Executive Government cannot review the decisions of magistrates in petty sessions. The facts of the case are these. Thomas Wall, referred to in the Question, was prosecuted by Thomas Lucas, a process-server, for having, on several occasions, made use of language towards him calculated to lead to a breach of the peace, and for making a practice of following him through the streets to insult and annoy him. The defendant was ordered to enter into recognizances to be of good behaviour for six months, himself in 40s. and one surety in 40s., and, in default, to be imprisoned for one month without hard labour. The recognizances were perfected, and the defendant consequently did not suffer any imprisonment.