§ MR. PEASEasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to the circumstance of two little girls being sent from Camborne Petty Sessions to the county gaol at Bodmin under the following circumstances:—That one girl, named Madden, was about 11 years of age; that the other girl, named Stevens, was only about nine years of age; that they had neither of them ever been convicted before; that they were fatherless and the children of very poor widows; that the crime with which they were charged was that of stealing the flowers, or the plants and flowers, off a grave in the churchyard of Lelant; that they pleaded guilty on the 3rd of June, and were fined Is. and costs; on the 24th of June, in default of payment, they were sentenced to seven days in Bodmin gaol; that they were actually in gaol six days, having arrived there the day after commitment; and whether he thought little children of such an age should, under such circumstances, be sent to county gaols?
MR. ASSHETON CROSSSir, I have said, over and over again, that I am altogether opposed to the sending such 308 young persons to gaol. I gave orders long ago that if any such case occurred my attention should be called to it at once. The facts in this case did not come to my knowledge till the term of imprisonment had expired. With regard to the facts stated, I have received a communication from the clerk to the Justices; and it is but just to the magistrates that I should state that, according to that letter, the circumstances of the case are inaccurately put in the Question. I am told that the offenders were not young children of nine and 11, but girls of 14 and 15 years. The offence had been one of frequent occurrence, and it was not only that flowers in graveyards had been plucked, but the plants were torn up and taken away. Such a practice could not be allowed to go on.