HC Deb 11 August 1884 vol 292 c430
MR. DEASY

asked Mr. Solicitor General for Ireland, If Dr. Eames, Resident Medical Superintendent of the Cork District Lunatic Asylum, was lately defendant in an action by a Mr. Hegarty, a farmer residing near the city of Cork, for false imprisonment as a lunatic on 29th May last; whether it is a fact that, on the day in question, Mr. Hegarty applied to one of the officers of the asylum for a form of tender for the supply of milk to that establishment; whether Dr. Eames, who was present, insisted that Mr. Hegarty asked for a "committal order" for himself, and thereupon had him placed in a cell, where he was detained for an hour and a-half; whether it is customary for resident medical superintendents of lunatic asylums in Ireland to admit any person who would apply for a committal order; under what rule Dr. Eames ordered Mr. Hegarty to be detained in the asylum; and, whether the Dr. Eames above referred to is the same medical officer who was recently employed by the Government to certify that James Ellis French, late Detective Director, was insane?

THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. WALKER)

The last paragraph of this Question contains the unwarranted assertion, which I desire emphatically to disclaim—namely, that Dr. Eames was employed by the Government to certify that French was insane. As regards the rest, Dr. Eames was, at the last Assizes for Cork, defendant in an action for false imprisonment brought by a man named Hegarty, in which the jury, without any delay, found a verdict for Dr. Eames. Hegarty applied to one of the officers for a form, and, when asked what form, said a committal form. He could not give his name or address, and told the house steward he had been in the asylum six months before, and altogether behaved in so extraordinary a manner, that Dr. Eames detained him till he might make inquiries of the police. He was not placed in a cell. He remained in the corridor under charge of an attendant, and for about 25 minutes, till he was identified. I am not aware of any custom or rule applicable to such a case.