64. Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Secretary for Scotland whether his attention has been called to the conviction, in the Glasgow Criminal Court, of a boy of 17 of stealing, and his sentence to two months' imprisonment; whether, in view of the youth of the prisoner, he will consider the advisability of altering the sentence; and whether the Borstal system is intended to provide an alternative and reformatory method of punishment in cases such as this?
Mr. McKINNON WOODIf my hon. Friend intends to suggest that the boy to whom he refers should be transferred to the Scottish Borstal Institution, this is not in my opinion a case for the exercise of the power of transfer. The minimum Borstal sentence is one year, and the treatment is not intended for short sentence prisoners.