HC Deb 15 July 1890 vol 346 cc1733-4
MR. W. A. MACDONALD (Queen's Co., Ossory)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has seen a paragraph fin the Echo of Saturday, headed "Moonlighting by a policeman," which stated that Constable Palmer has been convicted of smashing the windows of two houses in Tipperary, and has been sentenced for the second offence to two months' imprisonment with hard labour, but that the District Inspector of police said there would be a difficulty in finding him as he had left the country, and that the Magistrates made no observations on the conduct of the police in allowing the prisoner to escape; whether the Returns made to this House of outrages reported to the Royal Irish Constabulary include any outrages committed by members of the Constabulary themselves; and, if so, can he state in how many instances; and whether, if the facts are as stated, he will order a full inquiry to be made into the conduct of the police in allowing this constable to escape from justice?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

The answer to the first paragraph is, Yes. In answer to the second paragraph, the agrarian outrage Return only deals with offences which have an agrarian motive. The Return of ordinary outrages will, of course, include any committed by policemen. I am not aware whether there be any such. Thirdly, the police have no power to arrest, as there was no warrant issued against Palmer.

In reply to a question from Mr. CLANCY (Dublin Co., N.),

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

said: The policeman was suspended at once from duty.

MR. W. A. MACDONALD

Does the right hon. Gentleman mean to assert that when the summons was issued the police had no power of preventing the constable from making his escape. Could they not at least have watched his proceedings?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

In all probability his proceedings were watched.

MR. SEXTON

Why, in the case of a serious offence of this kind, committed at midnight by a constable, was he not shadowed and his escape prevented?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I do not believe it is the custom to shadow a person who has been summoned to appear before an ordinary tribunal.

MR. SEXTON

Did not the constable break the windows of several houses on the night in question?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I do not gather that he did, or that the circumstances of the outrage were such as to constitute it a felonious act.