§ 41. Mr. KEIR HARDIEasked the Home Secretary whether he was consulted by the judge before he reduced the sentence on Lady Sybil Smith from fourteen days to four days; what reasons were assigned by him for the change; and whether any communications, verbal or oral, passed between the judge and the Home Office on the subject.?
§ Mr. ELLIS GRIFFITHNo direct communication passed between the Home Office and the magistrate. As was explained to the hon. Member last Thursday, the solicitor who appeared for the police represented to the magistrate, with my right hon. Friend's cognisance and approval, that Mrs. Pethick Lawrence, Lady Sybil Smith, and Miss Evelyn Sharp were not militants habitually engaged in the use of criminal methods. The magistrate assigned this fact as his reason for reducing the sentence from fourteen days to four days.