Lawrenson v Hill

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 20 January 1860
• Date: 20 January 1860
• Court: Exchequer (Ireland)

Exchequer.

LAWRENSON

and

HILL.

Cave v. MountainENR 1 Man. & G. 257.

Little v. ClementsIR 1 Ir. Com. Law Rep. 194.

Gelan v. HallUNK 27 L. J., M. C., 78.

Weller v. TokeENR 9 East, 364.

Barton v. Bricknell 13 Q. B. 393.

Wedge v. Berkeley 6 Ad. & Ell. 663.

Horn v. ThornboroughENR 3 Exch. 846.

Ballinger v. FerrisENR 1 M. & W. 632.

Regina v. ChristopherUNK 28 L. J., M. C., 35.

Ruckley v. KiernanIR 7 Ir. Com. Law Rep. 75.

Lindsay v. O'NeillIR 5 Ir. Com. Law Rep. 461.

Regina v. Sutton 5 Q. B. 493.

Rourke v. Pepper Sm. & Bat. 346

Caudle v. Seymour 1 Q. B. 889.

Howard v. Gosset 10 Q. B. 359.

Regina v. Bolton 1 Q. B. 66.

Grady v. HuntIR 5 Ir. Com. Law Rep. 445; S. C., 1 Ir. Jur., N. S., 10.

Plunkett v. GreatrexENR 2 New Sess. Cas. 429.

Leary v. Patrick 15 Q. B. 266.

Lalor v. BlandIR 8 Ir. Com. Law Rep. 123.

Hazeldine v. Grove 3 Q. B. 997.

White v. CarterENR 3 Bing. 78.

Haylock v. Sparke 1 Ell. & Bl. 471.

Caudle v. Seymour 1 Q. B. 889.

Barton v. Bricknell 13 Q. B. 393.

Leary v. Patrick 15 Q. B. 266.

Reg. v. Barton 13 Q. B. 389.

COMMON LAW REPORTS. LAWRENSON v. HILL. 177 M. T. 1859. Exchequer. Nov. 16, 17. H. T. 1860. Jan. 20. "custody of a police constable, and then and there forced and under the 2nd "compelled the plaintiff to go from and out of a certain building sectio 1 e2"Vi oine . , oc f the, if, in theact parti- - " in the town of Edgeworthstown, in the said county of Longford, suing the war- cular of is "into the public street, and then and there forced and corn- rmant, the agistrate acÂÂted without or pelled her to go along and through divers public streets and in excess of "roads from the said town of Edgeworthstown to a building in although although he " the town of Longford, known as the gaol of Longford had , in thea general jurisdiction " county of Longford , , and then and there without any reasonable over the sub- ject-matter of " and probable cause, imprisoned the plaintiff, and detained her in incluirY. such a case the " prison, and caused her to be imprisoned and detained in prison Magistrate is not protected " in the said gaol of Longford for a long time, to wit, from the by the 2nd section, al " said 24th day of March 1858 until the 7th day of April, con- though he bona fide believed " trary to law, and against the will of the plaintiff; whereby the that he was acting within " said plaintiff was greatly injured," &c. The second count was his jurisdic tion. substantially the same. A pleading susceptible of Plea to the first and second counts :-That before and at the one interpreta- time, &c., the defendant was one of the Justices of the Peace for ti on on de- murrer, and another at Nisi Prins, is embarrassing; and the Court, upon a question whether it was sustained by evidence, will construe it as it would have done upon general demurrer. VOL. 10. 23 L 178 COMMON LAW REPORTS. the county of Longford ; and the defendant, as such Justice of the Peace, in the due discharge and execution of his duty, and within his jurisdiction, on the said 24th day of March 1858, attended the Petty Sessions Court held at Edgeworthstown, in and for said county of Longford ; and the defendant, being then and there in discharge of his duty as such Justice, a charge was made against the now plaintiff, therein named Ellen Kennedy ; and the said plainÂÂtiff having attended at said Petty Sessions, said charge was duly heard and adjudicated on, in the presence of this defendant, and William Francis Ryan, also a Justice of the Peace for said county of Longford ; and upon the evidence and sworn testimony then and there adduced, and on information on oath duly made and tendered before him as such Justice of the Peace, he, the said Justice, did verily believe that the plaintiff had been guilty of a felony, that is to say, the offence of stealing a certain key, the property of one Willoughby Bond, Esq.; and thereupon the defendant says, in the execution of his duty, as such Justice of the Peace for the county of Longford, he did, on the said 24th day of March, thereupon, duly issue his warrant, under his hand and seal, to the constabuÂÂlary of Longford, directing them to lodge the said plaintiff, therein described as Ellen Kennedy, in the gaol of Longford, to abide her trial at the next Quarter Sessions to be held at Longford ; and which said warrant the defendant afterwards caused to be deliÂÂvered to one of the said constables, under which said warrant of commitment the said plaintiff, therein described as Ellen KenÂÂnedy, was imprisoned and kept in custody to abide her trial upon said charge, for the said time and times in said first and second count stated, which are, &c. ; and the defendant avers in so doing he acted bona fide, as a Justice of the Peace, and within his jurisdiction, and in the belief that the plaintiff was guilty of the charge of feloniously obtaining said key ; and the defendant says the said acts were not done maliciously, or without reasonÂÂable and probable cause ; and under the said warrant of commitment the said plaintiff, called Ellen Kennedy, underwent no further or greater imprisonment, save and except in the ordinary course of law she was discharged. COMMON LAW REPORTS. /79 Upon these pleadings the issue was, whether the justification of the defendant, pleaded to said first and second paragraphs, was true in substance and in fact? The evidence given at the trial was as follows :-On behalf of the plaintiff, there was proved a summons served upon her, entitled " W. Willoughby Bond, Esq., " complainant ; Ellen Kennedy, defendant. Petty Sessions District " of Edgeworthstown, county of Longford. Dated the 23rd day "of March 1858," and signed by the defendant. The complaint recited in this summons was, " That the said Ellen Kennedy has "the key of a house in her possession, the property of the coraÂÂ" plainant, and would not give it up to Mr. Fullam, complainant's " agent." In pursuance of this summons the plaintiff attended on the 24th day of March 1858, at the Petty Sessions Court of Edgeworthstown. The plaintiff having refused to give up the key, an information, similarly entitled as the summons, was made by Michael Fullam, which was as follows :-" Saith on his oath " he is agent to Willoughby Bond, Esq., of Farm. Applied to " the defendant for the key of the house in Edgeworthstown, " lately in the possession of Anne Halfpenny, deceased, who stated "she had an undertaking with Mr. William Slator about it, and " would give said key to him ; that subsequently she refused to " give said key to him, on the ground that it might be the means "of causing her to be removed from her own house ; and that " informant saith said key has not been given up, and still remains " in her custody. The informant demanded the key referred to on " Monday the 22nd of March instant, and was refused.-(Signed)-, " Michael Fullam." The defendant thereupon issued a warrant, directÂÂed to the constabulary of Longford, and which was in the following terms :-" Form E.C.-Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1853, 14 & 15 " Vic., c. 93.-Warrant to commit (or detain) for trial-(Title).ÂÂ"Whereas a complaint was made on the 24th day of March, on the " oath of Michael Fullam, of Farra, that on Monday the 22nd of: " March 1858, the aforesaid Michael Fullam demanded the key " of a house, the property of Willoughby Bond, Esq., from Ellen "Kennedy, which she refused to give up said key ; and the "said Ellen Kennedy to abide her trial at the next quarter Ses 180 COMMON LAW REPORTS. " sions to be held at Longford, on the 7th of April 1858: this is " to command you, to whom this warrant is addressed, to lodge " the said Ellen Kennedy, of Edgeworthstown, in the gaol of " Longford, in the said county of Longford, there to be impriÂÂsoned by the keeper of said gaol as follows ; and for this the preÂÂ" sent warrant shall be a sufficient authority. To all whom it may " concern." (Signed) " EDWARD EUSTACE HILL." Proof was then given that the plaintiff had been arrested under this warrant, and imprisoned for fourteen days; and that at the next Quarter Sessions a bill of indictment against her was sent up to the Grand Jury, which was ignored. For the defendant, Mr. Hill was examined on his own behalf, and a Mr. Ryan, a brother Magistrate ; and their evidence was that Fullam was examined orally on oath before them, at the Petty Sessions, in the presence of the plaintiff, and swore that he had discovered that the key in question was taken clandestinely and unlawfully from an unoccupied house, the property of Mr. Bond, and that the plaintiff refused to give up said key ; and that they believed, upon the oath of Fullam, that the key was clandesÂÂtinely and unlawfully taken by her, and that a felony was committed by her, in consequence of such sworn testimony. His Lordship told the jury that there was evidence to sustain the defendant's justification as pleaded, and that, if they believed it, no action for false imprisonment could be maintained against the Magistrate on the ground of any informality or error in the proÂÂceedings. Counsel for the plaintiff objected to this direction ; and the jury having found a verdict for the defendant, E. M. Kelly, in Easter Term, obtained a conditional order to set aside the verdict for the defendant on the first issue, and for a...