MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the case of the prisoner John Jones, brought before the Bench of Magistrates at Llanrwst, Denbighshire, on the 16th ultimo; whether he is aware that the prisoner is an ordinary labouring man of limited means; whether it is a fact that the Bench, upon the charge of threatening a constable, ordered him (the prisoner) to find bail, himself for £25 and a surety for £25; whether bail for this amount was tendered on his behalf by a respectable tradesman, and a valuation of his effects, as proof of his sufficient means, produced to the Court; whether this bail was refused; and whether, in view of these facts and taking into consideration the helpless position of the prisoner, he will inquire into the case, with the view of granting a mitigation of the sentence?
§ MR. ASQUITHYes; and I have received a Report from the committing Magistrates. I understand that Jones is a man of bad character, with a record of many previous convictions for breach of the peace, drunkenness, riotous conduct, assault, and larceny extending over a period of 20 years. It is a fact that the Bench ordered him to find bail in himself for £25 and a surety for £25, as in the opinion of the Justices he was a dangerous character, and he had only recently been discharged from Carnarvon Prison and was under recognisances for his good behaviour when he committed the further offence with which he was charged. The person tendered as bail 511 for the prisoner admitted that there was an unsatisfied judgment against him for the sum of £2, which he applied should be paid by instalments; and the Magistrates, considering a substantial bail was necessary, did not think he answered this requirement, and refused him as bail. This is not a case in which my interference is called for.