§ MR. PATRICK JOSEPH O'BRIEN (Tipperary, N.)I beg to ask the Chief 1432 Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has seen the report of a case tried at Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, on the 12th instant, before Colonel Waring and Mr. Meldon, Resident Magistrates, in which Mr. O'Reilly, a respectable trader of that town, was charged with an alleged assault upon and intimidation of an emergency bailiff named John Fox; whether his attention has been called to the fact that the evidence of the prosecutor was contradicted by the police evidence, and also by an independent witness, and that the Magistrates, in giving judgment, used the following language—
We take into account the peaceful condition of the district, and will require the defendant to give hail, himself in £40 and two sureties in £20 each, or one month's imprisonment";and whether, having regard to the uncontradicted evidence concerning O'Reilly, steps will be taken to relieve him from the effects of this sentence?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI understand that it is the case that a prosecution was instituted against Michael Reilly, a trader, for using violence and intimidation towards Fox. The evidence of Fox appears to have been only contradicted by the police as to the amount of violence and intimidation used. Fox, who is a bailiff, has been refused supplies of any sort by ten publicans in the neighbourhood, including Michael Reilly. The Magistrates appear to have used the observations attributed to them in announcing their decision. There does not appear to be ground for adopting the steps suggested in the last paragraph.