HIBERNIAN ATTACK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15237, 26 February 1913, Page 12

HIBERNIAN ATTACK.

Sir, Your correspondent " Justitia," has surely not looked into the true state of the facts upon which he undertakes to comment. Perhaps it would be out of place to imagine thab a correspondent would purposely mislead your readers by I putting a wrong construction on published j accounts of a case in court. I append a i printed report of the case, extracted from a leading Belfast paper. A similar report 1 appears in other English and Irish papers. It is clearly shown in these reports thai Sunday-school children were terrorised by the Hibernian party, and ran away- in all directions; that women and children) had to take u-efuge in the police barracks; flaga, that is Union Jacks, to which the rioters objected, were snatched away; j pikjs were ised, and bystandei's and policemen were injured by the prisoners. who were each <f.ntenced by the Judge I to three months, with hard labour, after the jury'-, verdict of guilty, in which the Judge concurred. The evidence showed that the attackers were 300 in number, and they attacked 100 Presbyterian school children, in the charge of the Rev. R. Barron and adult teachers by throwing stones at them, and following up with pikes, till they drove them helter-skelter to right and left, together with women, who -were there. The Rev. R. Barron said he had no ill-feeling against the prisoners, ' and pleaded for a. lenient sentence. The . Judge decided that the prisoners must be punished, to prevent a repetition of such incidents, but said he would not pass too heavy a sentence. Three months each, with hard labour, was what he considered sufficient. There were 23 prisoners sentenced. ■ (COPY OF PRINTED EXTRACT.) His Lordship said the prisoners were all found guilty bv the jury, arid in that verdict he concurred. But whether he concurred or not he would be bound _to give effect to the verdict. The riot of which they bad been found guilty, and which had attracted so much public attention and created* so much excitement, was a not which occurred at Oaatledawson on Juno 29 last. "It was an occasion on which a. bun-day-school . party went from Win 1 ? 1011 ? 0 - near Belfast, to Cswtledawson, headed by their pastor, the Bev. Robert. Barron. \Chether it was a chance collision between the prisoners' party and the other party was father doubtful. For a long time he was inclined to think it was chance, but he was not quite so certain now. He would aLurne however, in their favour, that it was chknee. Lite Sunday-school party were comin- up towards the railway station and the Hibernian party wore passing down the street but in the riot that took-place the Prisoners were undoubtedly the aggressors. Sue of their number. William Craig, seized n flae and John Lennox seized another He (His Lordship) did not intend coin- into the details of the case. Undoubtedly they did seize or capture a flag or flags 'one of which was afterwards given hack to- the police. Undoubtedly some of them had Pikes, and some of those pikes were used. Two persona at least received miuries. gnd besides that Sergeant Birchill was knocked down, and other policemen rereived injuries-he would not say serious. Kit the worst feature of the whole case was that that Sunday-school > party, these excursionists, were com!>o?ed to a great extent of very young children—boys and girls ' —and women. The children ran terrorised in all directions. Borne of them took refuge in the poiice barrack, and the women ana children went screaming about the place. He did not want to pass too heavy a sentence upon the prisoners, but he did not want such incidents to occur again, and the way to prevent them way to punish the persons who were found guilty of such offences. Accordingly he sentenced oach of the accused to -ttueee" calendar- months with hard labour. R. Richmond.