§ MR. DUFFY (Galway, S.)To ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland whether he is aware that at the Petty Sessions Court at Dunmore, County Galway, on the 12th inst., two men were charged with assault; that the bench was composed of four magistrates who were equally divided, two for inflicting a fine and two for returning case for trial; and that the case was sent for trial; and will he say if any precedent exists for such action.
(Answered by Mr. Atkinson.) In this case the injured man received five severe cuts on his head and had his skull fractured. Two magistrates wished to treat this as a trivial assault, and deal with it summarily, inflicting a fine. This was wholly illegal and improper. They had no jurisdiction whatever to deal with it summarily. All the justices held the offence was proved; and as it was indictable the only legal and proper course was to return the accused for trial. Two of the justices, in conformity with two recent precedents, adopted this course.