HC Deb 14 April 1931 vol 251 c20
34. Mr. FREEMAN

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons, men and women separately, are now undergoing one year's or more imprisonment for thefts of £1 or less?

The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Clynes)

I regret that the precise information is not available. The number must, however, be extremely small since in 1929 the total number of persons sentenced at Assizes and Quarter Sessions to terms of imprisonment of more than one year for larcenies of sums of any amount, however large, was only 125. I may add that the degree of an offender's delinquency cannot necessarily be judged merely by reference to the value of the particular property in respect of which he is actually convicted.