§ MR. J. E. ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to the statement of Major Roberts, Governor of Cork Prison, in giving evidence at the inquest on the late Mr. John Mandeville, that he received an order from the authorities at Dublin Castle to have Mr. Mandeville in readiness for removal to Tullamore at 5.15 a.m. too late the night before to allow of his complying with the Rule of the Prisons Board, which requires a doctor's certificate of fitness for removal previous to such removal; who is responsible for this breach of the Prison Rules; and, what was the necessity for removing a prisoner at such an hour on a November morning?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)Mr. Mandeville had not been two days in Cork Prison when the order for his transfer to Tullamore was issued. It was not, therefore, regarded as an ordinary removal requiring a medical certificate, as his health could not have been affected during his imprisonment to such an extent as to prevent his removal. The reason of his removal from Cork at such an early hour was the desire to avoid any popular disturbance.
§ MR. EDWARD HARRINGTON (Kerry, W.)Is there not amongst the printed Rules hung up in a prisoner's cell an express Rule providing that no person shall be removed from the gaol in which he is confined except under certificate of the medical officer who had examined him?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURYes, Sir; and in the answer which I gave I explained why it was that the Rule was not thought to be applicable in this special case.
§ MR. COBB (Warwick, S.E., Rugby)wished to know whether the Governor of Cork Prison had not admitted, in his evidence before the Coroner's Jury, that he had infringed the Rules in allowing Mr. Mandeville to be removed without a medical certificate?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURsupposed the Governor of Cork Prison alluded to the same circumstance to which he had just referred.