§ Mr. REDDY (for Mr. Hazleton)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary who had become insane was allocated to the common ward of Steeven's Hospital; that this man escaped from the ward and hid himself for days in the building, while his body was being searched for in the Liffey; and that when he was discovered he was found in a dying condition, the result of hunger and exposure; and will he say by whose direction and authority a lunatic was sent as an ordinary patient for treatment in this hospital?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe constable in question was sent up from the country for treatment for nerve trouble, his medical attendant stating that the case was not one of mental aberration. He was seen to leave the ward on the night of 14th November and, as he did not return, was followed, but could not be found anywhere. Every effort was made to trace him, but it was not till a week later that he was found concealed on the roof of a verandah of the hospital. He died a few days later. He had been seen on several occasions before his escape by the surgeon of the force and the resident-surgeon of the hospital, but neither of them was prepared to certify that he was insane.