§ MR. CUNINGHAME GRAHAM) (Lanark, N.W.I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the fact that, about half-past one o'clock on the morning of the 2nd instant, three policemen, without the authority of a warrant, made forcible entry into the house No. 37, Mary Ann Street, Cardiff, occupied by Mrs. Driscoll, a widow, and her two sons, Cornelius and Daniel Driscoll; that the policemen, without waiting for the inmates to open the door, broke open the doors back and front, and when Cornelius Driscoll asked their authority for entering in such a manner, they replied in abusive language and refused to give any satisfactory explanation of their conduct; that the police made a pretence of arresting two men who were lodging in the house, and almost immediately discharged them without trial; that one of the policemen, No. 34, seized Daniel Driscoll violently by the throat when he attempted to stop them on the stairs until they had shown their authority; that Cornelius and Daniel Driscoll went immediately to the police station to complain, and that Inspector James, who was in charge, refused to receive their complaint, saying the police 939 had done perfectly right, and threatened to arrest the complainants if they did not leave the police station at once; that the matter was reported by letter to the Mayor and Town Clerk, and no notice taken of it; whether the policemen complained of and the Inspector who refused to receive the complaint are still on duty; if it is lawful for policemen to enter a house without being armed with a warrant, and if it be lawful, even with a warrant, to break open the door of a house without making known to the inmates the nature of the authority with which the police, who demanded admittance, are invested; and if he will cause inquiry to be made into the circumstances of the case?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.I am informed by the Head Constable that on the morning of the day in question a seaman came up to a constable in the street named, and said that he had been robbed of £9, and that the thieves had gone into No. 36 or 37. The constable, with two others, thereupon, having satisfied themselves that the thieves were not in the former house, knocked at No. 37. After waiting about five minutes, a man, who was passing by, having learnt what was going on, of his own accord, and without being asked by the police, forced open the door. Two men pointed out by the seaman as the persons who robbed him were arrested and conveyed to the police station, where the officer in charge did not think the evidence sufficient to justify their detention, and he denies having used any threat to the men. The men complained to the Mayor, who replied that the matter would bo submitted to the nest meeting of the Watch Committee. The police officers concerned are still on duty. I am advised that police officers in pursuit of an offender are justified, in urgent cases, in breaking into a house if, after announcement of their official character, admission is refused.