MR. D. SDLLIVAN(for Mr. MAURICE HEALY) (Cork) (Westmeath, S.)asked 81 the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to the case of the "Queen v. Cornelius Minehane and others," tried at the Cork Winter Assizes on the 7th instant, in which five accused persons were charged with riot arising out of the arrest of one of them, named Lucy, at Macroom, on the 18th of October; whether the jury found Lucy not guilty, and in finding the other accused guilty recommended them to mercy, on the ground that the arrest of Lucy, which caused the riot, was not justifiable; whether the Lord Chief Baron declared his agreement with the jury as to their verdict, and said that they were the proper judges as to the propriety of the original arrest of Lucy; who was the constable responsible for Lucy's arrest; and, what notice it is proposed to take of his conduct?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)The Constabulary Authorities report that the man Lucy was arrested on the night of the 18th of October, for being drunk and incapable in a public street at Macroom. A crowd assembled and rescued the prisoner, the constable who made the arrest being struck on the back of the head with a stone weighing some four pounds, which felled him to the ground insensible, and rendered his life for some time in danger. At the Assizes the jury found Lucy not guilty. Four other persons charged were found guilty, but recommended to mercy. I have not seen a full report of the proceeding at the Assizes; but it does not appear from what I have heard that the original arrest of Lucy was unjustifiable. The arrest was made by Constable Alister.
§ THE LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN (Mr. SEXTON) (Belfast, W.)May I ask whether the authorities, having found that the arrest of Lucy was not justifiable, and the Judge having declared that the jury were the proper judges of that, the right hon. Gentleman will not make some representation to the constable who made this unjust arrest?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI am afraid the hon. Gentleman has misapprehended what I said. My account indicated that the jury were by no means unanimous as to the legality or illegality of the arrest.
§ MR. SEXTONDoes the right hon. Gentleman attach any importance to the 82 fact that the majority of the jury, at all events, considered the arrest unjustifiable?