§ COLONEL WARING (Down, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord 1236 Lieutenant of Ireland whether the man, named John Sawey, who was convicted of stabbing Sergeant Greer, of the Royal Irish Constabulary, at Castlewellan, on the 18th of April last, and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on the 3rd of June, and, at the expiration of that term, to find sureties to be of good behaviour for 12 months, or, in default, to be imprisoned for a further term of 12 months, is now at large, though a period of over 10 months of his sentence is unexpired; whether this man had been previously convicted of serious offences against property in the town of Castlewellan; whether it is true, as is rumoured, that he has been released from a lunatic asylum, to which he had been transferred on doctor's certificate; and whether he has entered into any recognizances to keep the peace in accordance with the sentence passed on him on the 3rd of June; and, if not, whether any, and what, precautions have been taken to protect the inhabitants of Castlewellan from the probable effects of a recurrence of his homicidal and destructive monomania?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe facts are substantially as stated in the question. The man was transferred from, Belfast Prison to Dundrum Criminal Lunatic Asylum, from which he was subsequently discharged on the grounds of health, with a view to transfer to a local asylum, where he became an ordinary patient, whence he was afterwards discharged by statute, the resident medical superintendent reporting that the man was in an advanced stage of diabetes, and showing no mental symptoms. As regards the inquiry in the last part, the man has not entered into recognisances, but the Governor of Dundrum Asylum reported of the man that he was a quiet, inoffensive, and a very rational patient.