HC Deb 23 November 1916 vol 87 cc1610-1W
Mr. T. M. HEALY

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that a young man named James Michael Kearney, of Clanworth, county Cork, was arrested there on 26th September as an absentee under the Military Service Act; was deported to London without being brought before a magistrate in Ireland; that at Bow Street he was remanded on bail, and subsequently tried; that the magistrate, after hearing the evidence, slated, if any offence was committed, it was committed in Ireland; that he was in doubt as to whether any offence was committed, and that he had no jurisdiction; that Kearney was then discharged, but rearrested by the military when he got outside the Court, taken to Whitehall and confined to cells, and subsequently taken to Chelsea; that he was compelled to wear the uniform of the London Irish Rifles, and then taken to Mornhill Camp and confined there for six weeks; that he was subsequently, by order of the War Office, discharged, and received a pass to his home; will be say by whose authority were these irregularities committed; and what are the intentions of the War Office in respect to Mr. Kearney?

Mr. FORSTER

The facts in regard to this man are not altogether as stated by my hon. and learned Friend. Kearney was brought before a magistrate in Ireland and was again brought before a magistrate in London. The magistrate in London, having heard the evidence, held that he had no jurisdiction, but stated that he would have held Kearney to be an absentee if he had had jurisdiction. Kearney was posted, but was relegated to the Reserve, a question having been raised as to the regularity of the legal proceedings. It may become necessary to test Kearney's liability in a Civil Court.