§ MR. FULLER (Wilts, Westbury)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the case of George Hayward, a boy of 14 years of age, who was convicted at the Petty Sessions in Warminster, on the 6th July, for stealing a strap value one shilling, and was sentenced to 10 days' imprisonment prior to five years' detention in the Wilts Reformatory; whether he is aware that the previous charge against the character of the boy was for an offence committed when only seven years of age, and that since that time his general conduct has been good; and, whether he will take steps to mitigate the sentence, in consideration of the fact that the strap appears to have been thrown away, with no intent of stealing the same but probably for a practical joke?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (MR. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.Yes, Sir; my attention was called to this case more than a week ago by my hon. Friend the Secretary to the Local Government Board, and in consequence of his intervention I have made inquiries into the facts, which are as stated in the first and second paragraphs of the question. I have found no reason to suppose that the taking of the strap was a practical joke, but on the whole I have come to the conclusion that the case is not one for a reformatory school. I will, therefore, advise the remission of that part of the sentence.