§ DR. TANNER (Cork Co., Mid)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether on the recent trial of the man Lucy and four others, at the Cork Winter Assizes, on a charge of riot at Macroom, on the 18th of October last, the jury acquitted Lucy, and found his original arrest, out of which the riot arose, to have been unjustifiable; whether his attention has been called to the fact that in convicting the other prisoners the jury unanimously recommended them to mercy, expressly on the ground of the illegality of Lucy's arrest, and that the Lord Chief Baron promised to give effect to the recommendation of the jury; and, whether any steps will be taken against the policeman whose unjustifiable action in arresting Lucy led to the disturbance?
THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. MADDEN)(who replied) (Dublin Universitysaid: I am informed that the jury, in acquitting Lucy, expressed no ground, so far as can be ascertained, for their action. It is not the fact that the jury based their recommendation to mercy in the case of the other prisoners on the ground alleged in the Question. On the contrary, they stated that they did so on the ground that the attack on the police was unpremeditated. It is the case that the Lord Chief Baron said that the recommendation would have due weight with him. That the attack on the police was a serious one is evident from the fact that, notwithstanding this recommendation, the sentence inflicted was in the case of one of the prisoners six months' imprisonment with hard labour, and in the case of each of the three others, three months' imprisonment with hard labour.