§ MR. COURTENAY WARNER (Staffordshire, Lichfield)To ask Mr. Attorney General if he can state the reasons for removing Mr. Aldritt, Mayor of Tamworth, from the office of Justice of the Peace.
(Answered by Sir Robert Finlay.) I am informed that the circumstances are as follows: In an action for slander, Ash-wood v. Aldritt, tried at the Birmingham Assizes on Tuesday, 5th August, 1902, arising out of words uttered in respect of an application to the Bench by the plaintiff for a licence, the judge left it to the jury to decide whether, in uttering the words complained of, Mr. Aldritt had been actuated by an honest desire to do his duty as a magistrate, or whether, influenced by some other motive, he had intended to injure the plaintiff. The jury found against Mr. Aldritt, a verdict with which the judge agreed.