HC Deb 22 July 1881 vol 263 cc1611-2
Mr. O'SULLIVAN

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is true that Mr. Clifford Lloyd refused to take as bails for Mrs. Coleman, a farmer, named Thomas O'Donnell, who is rated over sixty pounds per annum, and a man named James Baulton, the owner of house property in Kilmallock; and, if so, if he will state why he did refuse substantial bails like those and commit the woman to prison?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

, in reply, said, he had obtained information from the Constabulary as to this matter. He was informed that it was not the case that Mr. Clifford Lloyd refused to take for Mrs. Coleman the joint security of T. O'Donnell and J. Baulton. T. O'Donnell did not offer, and in the case of joint security it was necessary that both should be qualified.

MR. PARNELL

asked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether the committal of the aged woman Margaret Coleman to prison for six months, in default of finding bail, by Mr. Clifford Lloyd out of Petty Sessions, was not a direct contravention of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, and therefore illegal? He wished further to ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman whether, before a decision was given in such a case, there should not have been two magistrates present, and not one?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)

, in reply, said, that the acceptance and refusal of bail was within the ordinary powers conferred on magistrates, but was not subject to the provisions of the Act referred to. With respect to the sentence of six months' imprisonment said to have been passed on Mrs. Coleman, he was informed that she was net sentenced to that imprisonment, but that the magistrate committed her to gaol merely in default of her finding bail, and that she was detained there a day or two until the bail was obtained, and she was then released.

MR. PARNELL

Was it not in contravention of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act that she was committed for six months?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)

admitted that it would have been wrong for the magistrate so to decide a case of prosecution for a specific offence; but, as he had already explained, the woman was not convicted of an offence, nor was she committed for six months.

MR. PARNELL

Was she not distinctly sentenced to six months' imprisonment in default of finding sureties? Was that not in violation of the Act, and should not two magistrates have been present, if such a sentence was to be pronounced?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)

I have already pointed out that she was not sentenced to six months' imprisonment. No doubt the hon. Member is correct in saying that two magistrates should have been present in a case where a person was committed; but, as I have said, this was not a committal for six months.

MR. O'SULLIVAN

I should wish to ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman whether it is not the fact that three respectable persons offered bail for Mrs. Coleman whilst she was before the magistrates, and that they were refused?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)

I do not think such bail as the hon. Member refers to was offered; but I am unable to say, and cannot answer the Question without Notice.