§ MR. CHANNING(for Mr. BROADHURST) (Nottingham, W.)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to a sentence of seven days' hard labour, passed by the Grantham Borough Bench upon an old man of 73 years of age, for the offence of going into a greengrocer's shop and begging for an onion; and, if so, whether he can consider the advisability of mitigating this sentence?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)I have received a Report from the convicting magistrate on this case, from which it appears that this man has been well known to the police and to the magistrate personally for many years as a regular and persistent able-bodied beggar. I am told that he has for a 32 long time been a nuisance to passengers in the streets, to tradesmen, and especially to females. Frequent complaints of his conduct have been made to the police. He gave his ago to the police as 67, and not 73. Under the circumstances, I cannot advise any interference with the sentence.