HC Deb 05 April 1883 vol 277 cc1484-7
MR. SEXTON

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he has been made aware that, at the recent Sligo Assizes, upon the trial of Patrick Connolly, charged with the murder of Thomas Gibbons, a vital deposition, made by the widow of the murdered man, and declaring her inability to identify the guilty parties, was not produced by the Crown solicitor, nor deposited in the Court; whether it only came to the knowledge of the learned Judge through the action of the prisoner's counsel; whether the learned Judge, Mr. Justice Barry, in his charge to the jury, made the following observations on the matter:— He now came to another information, for the use of which he was obliged to do what he never was called upon to do before, and he had now some considerable experience. He was obliged to borrow the brief of the prisoner's counsel, in order to call their attention to a document of the most vital importance in that solemn inquiry. … The depositions of which he got copies were not in that court of Sligo at all, so far as he knew, and though counsel for the Crown were ignorant of the existence of that vital information until Mr. O'Malley opened it to cross-examine Bridget Gibbons. … It might be the result of accident, and he was sure he hoped it was, and that would be the tendency of his own belief, but it was to be regretted that when three men's lives were at stake from the official documents, every one of which ought to be in Court during the trial, and ought to be furnished to the Judge, that there should from that official depository have disappeared that remarkable information; whether any report has been made by Mr. Justice Barry of the circumstances which led him to use the language quoted; whether any notice has been taken, or will be taken, of the conduct of Mr. George Bolton, the Crown solicitor acting in the case; and, whether the depositions made against the accused, on the charges of murder and conspiracy to murder, which are to be tried in Dublin next week, will be deposited in court before the trials begin, and rendered available for the purposes of the defence?

THE ATTORNEY GENEEAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. PORTER)

I have been requested by my right hon. Friend to answer this Question. At the recent Sligo Assizes, on the trial of a man named Patrick Connolly, charged with murder, a very important deposition, which was to the effect stated in the Question, and which ought to have been on the file in Court, was not there, though the other depositions in the case were. It is not the fact that the matter only came to the Judge's knowledge through the action of the prisoner's counsel. On the contrary, the fact that the deposition had been made, its purport and effect, and the circumstance that it was missing, had been formally and officially communicated to the Judge before he entered the county of Sligo by the Crown Solicitor, Mr. Bolton. No Report, so far as I am aware, has been made by Mr. Justice Barry in reference to the matter. I believe there is no doubt that the language attributed to him in the Question was used by him; but I have the best reason for saying that he did not mean to convey any censure upon Mr. Bolton or the other representatives of the Crown in the case. The document never was seen by Mr. Bolton (although he had become aware of its existence), and never was in his possession. As a matter of fact, the prisoner's counsel at the trial had a compared copy of it, while the Crown Counsel had none; and the loss of the document was, in the opinion of the learned Judge, most detrimental to the case for the Crown, while it was of very material service to that of the prisoner. In justice to Mr. Bolton, I wish to add that a considerable time before the trial he informed me also of the loss of the deposition, and suggested that the magistrate who had taken it should be sent for from England to be present at the trial, that the prisoner's counsel might, if necessary, have the benefit of his testimony; and that, with my concurrence, this was done. I have made, and am still prosecuting, careful inquiry into the matter, and I have reason to believe that the loss of the document was accidental. At any rate, I cannot conceive that anyone connected with the Crown would have been party to the removal of the deposition. It was sworn in presence of the prisoners, and the fact that it was made was perfectly well known to their advisers. There is no part of Mr. Bolton's conduct in reference to the imputation conveyed by the Question which, in my judgment, calls for any notice on the part of the Government. As to the second portion of the hon. Member's Question, which refers to the coming trials in Dublin, I have only to say that those cases will be conducted on the official responsibility of the Advisers of the Crown, and in the presence of the counsel for the prisoners, who will, no doubt, do their duty.

MR. SEXTON

I beg to give Notice that at the earliest opportunity I shall call the attention of the House to the language of the learned Judge at Sligo, and to the bearing of the facts disclosed on the official position of Mr. George Bolton.