§ Mr. SpeakerI have received a letter from the chief magistrate of the Belfast petty sessions informing me that Mr. Robert Roy Beggs, the hon. Member for Antrim, East, has been sentenced to imprisonment for seven days following non-payment of a fine for an offence under article 3 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. I shall cause the text of the letter to be published in the Votes and Proceedings and in the Official Report.
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Following is the letter:
Dear Mr. Speaker,
Robert John Beggs, Member of Parliament for East Antrim, was convicted by me at Belfast Petty Sessions on 11 December 1987, of taking part in a public procession, contrary to Article 3 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. I fined him £2000, to be paid within 28 days.
As that fine has not been paid Mr. Beggs was today committed to Prison for a period of 7 days.
Yours faithfully,
C. P. McRandal
Resident Magistrate