CAPTAIN CRAIGTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that on Saturday, the 25th April last, two shots were fired into the house of a man named Murphy, of Ballyboccagh, near Ballinrobe, county Mayo, one of which narrowly missed an old man sitting at the fire whether the police investigations go to show that the shots were intended as murder or merely as intimidation of Mrs. Morris, who holds a boycotted farm in the district; will he say how this outrage is classed by the Government; and whether any arrests have been made, or what steps have been taken by the police.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) This is the same case about which I answered a Question put by the hon. Member for Mid Armagh yesterday. Two shots were fired at the house of James Murphy on the evening of 19th April, and a window was broken by grains of shot. Some of the grains flattened against the glass and fell outside, and those that penetrated the glass fell on the window sill immediately inside. The police therefore concluded that the shots were fired from a considerable distance, and that intimidation and not personal injury was intended. The case is still under police investigation, and its classification as an offence has not yet been decided upon by the Inspector-General. No sufficient evidence to justify arrests has yet been obtained.