§ MR. BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that Mr. Maughan, of Gates head, who, on the unsupported evidence of one policeman, on 7th May last, was deprived of his son for ten years, has recently been described in writing by thirty-five of his immediate neighbours as a respectable person, though in poor circumstances, and as a quiet, sober, and decent man; whether he is aware that Mr. Maughan denies that he has ever before been either warned by the police or fined, and says that he is being mistaken in this respect for another person of the same name; whether he is aware that Mr. Maughan bears an excellent character as a soldier in his Militia battalion; and whether, under these circumstances, he will cause further inquiries to be made into the character of the evidence given by the single policeman concerned in this case.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI am aware of the circumstances of the case referred to by the hon. Member. Full and careful inquiry has been made as to Maughan's statement, but no evidence whatever can be found of the existence of the alleged person of the same name, and I do not propose to take any further action in the matter.