To ask the Minister for Defence whether he is aware that on the entry of the Free State Troops into Balla, Co. Mayo, on 11th August, the Officer in charge placed the Station Master (Mr. R. Mellet) under arrest, without giving him time to close the office or lock up the cash on hands, amounting to over £400; whether Mr. Mellet was detained in a stable for five days and nights, without removing his clothes or without sleeping accommodation of any kind; whether, on the following Sunday, he was paraded through the streets to attend Mass. covered with a revolver, with his clothes smeared with the dirt of the stable and without being permitted to wash or shave for five days; whether, at the end of that period he was released, with a statement to the effect that he had been arrested on local information, which was found to be incorrect: Further to ask the Minister for Defence whether the Officer referred to has since been removed in custody and charged with the murder of one of his own men; whether the Minister is prepared to recommend the Government to recompense Mr. Mellet for the loss in salary he sustained during the period of his detention.
In the absence of the Minister for Defence the question was not answered.