§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If Joseph Wall, lately of the town of Carlow, was summoned to appear and give evidence at a secret inquiry at Tubbercurry, county Sligo, in June last, and, on being examined there by Mr. Home, R.M. was pressed to give evidence incriminating Mr. P. N. Fitzgerald, and was promised "substantial expenses" if he would do so; but, on declaring his inability to incriminate Mr. Fitzgerald, was violently threatened by Mr. Home, R.M. who conducted the inquiry; whether the police had in their possession at the time a sum of about £45, which had been found with Hall when he was arrested on a charge of purloining the money of his employer, and whether Detective Carroll and Mr. Randle Peyton, Crown Solicitor for Sligo, offered Wall not only "substantial expenses," but the return to him of the £45, without any further trouble, if he would swear against Fitzgerald; and, whether, as he maintained his declaration that he could not swear as suggested, the police retained, and still retain, the money so offered to him?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANJoseph Wall was summoned to give evidence at an inquiry held in Tubbercurry in July last, and was examined by Mr. Horne. It is not the fact that he was pressed to give evidence incriminating Mr. Fitzgerald, or was promised "substantial expenses" if he would do so, or was in any way threatened by Mr. Horne. He made a deposition and signed it. He received expenses according to the usual scale. A sum of over 435 £56 was found in the possession of Wall when he was arrested, on a charge of robbing his employer—Joseph Whelan—from whom a cash-box containing money had been stolen. He was tried on this charge; but the jury disagreed. The statements as to Detective Carroll and Mr. Randle Peyton are without foundation. An action has been taken, and is now pending, by Wall against the District Inspector in whose custody the money remains, pending Wall's trial on the criminal charge. There does not, however, seem to be any immediate prospect of this action being proceeded with, as Wall left his residence sometime ago, and has not since been heard of by the authorities.
§ MR. SEXTONMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, in giving this reply, he has rested on the results of simple inquiry of the three persons concerned—Peyton, Carroll, and Horne?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANWe have availed ourselves of every means of information open to us.