§ MR. ROCHE (Galway, E)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that on Sunday, 2nd April, whilst Thomas Sheridan, together with two of his friends named Murray and Noone, was standing outside his own door, Constable Daly asked why they were shouting, which they denied; that Sergeant Dumphy, although Noone had gone into the house, ordered Constable Daly to draw his baton and attack Sheridan and Murray; and that the constable struck Murray twice, and dragged Sheridan out to the road and then released him; whether he is aware that they subsequently followed him into his own house, where Noone was, and arrested Noone in the house, handcuffed him, and took him to the police station, where he was kept until a late hour and then taken before Mr. Hazel, J.P., Athenry, at midnight, a distance of eight miles, and released, when summons was served upon him; and whether, seeing that Mr. Villiers, J.P., lives within a few hundred yards of the scene of arrest, and that when the charge was heard before a bench of six magistrates the chairman commented upon Sergeant Dumphy's action adversely, and that the magistrates unanimously refused information, he will say what steps, if any, he intends to take in this case.
§ MR. WALTER LONGIn this case a charge of assault has been preferred against the police, and it would obviously be undesirable to deal with the question while that case is sub judice.