§ MR. SEXTONasked Mr. Solicitor General for Ireland, How long John Nolan and Laurence Hannon, accused of complicity in the Ballyforan murder case, and discharged from custody on Tuesday last at Carrick on Shannon, had been kept in prison without being brought to trial; why the Crown persisted, in applying to enter a nolle prosequi, and refused to assent to the application of counsel for Laurence Hannon, who stated that—
The prisoner had a number of witnesses who could conclusively establish his innocence, and he was most anxious for a full trial, to which he submitted he was in common justice entitled. His witnesses were now collected by the indefatigable exertions of his solicitor. He had no security that, if at some future period the Crown thought proper to rip up this charge again, his counsel and solicitors would be available or his witnesses alive;and, whether the Government will guarantee that the men discharged will not be further molested with respect to the abandoned accusation?
§ THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. WALKER)Sir, John Nolan, Laurence Hannon, and Michael Tansey were committed for trial at the Summer Assizes of 1884. Tansey was then tried and convicted, and the other cases were adjourned. At the Winter Assizes, which was the next Commission, John Nolan was tried, with the result that the jury disagreed, and Laurence Hannon was then released on bail. The Attorney General has considered that, having regard to the disagreement of the jury, the case against Nolan need not be further proceeded with, and, fol- 441 lowing the usual precedent, a nolle prose qui was accordingly entered. There is no intention of putting either of the men on trial again.
§ MR. SEXTONMay I ask the hon. and learned Gentleman whether that amounts to a declaration of the men's innocence?
§ MR. SEXTONWell, then, I beg to give Notice that I will ask the hon. and learned Gentleman, Whether the Crown have kept these men in prison for months; and, whether, having refused them a trial which would prove their innocence, they now refuse to admit the innocence of these men?