§ 38. Mr. O. LEWISasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of burglary were notified to the Metropolitan Police during the month of January, 1931, and in how many of these cases an arrest was made?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Short)17 burglaries were reported in January; two arrests were made in January and six subsequently. If the figures for a whole year, say 1930, are taken, it can be said that of 352 burglaries, 159 were cleared up to the point where arrest was effected or proceedings were justified.
§ Mr. LEWISFor the better protection of the public will the Under-Secretary arrange that the police pay less attention to motor cars and more attention to burglars?
§ 39. Mr. FREEMANasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that a man has recently finished serving 35 years of penal servitude for thefts amounting to a total of £14; and will he state the number of persons now in prison for theft for periods of one, three, 10, 20 years, or longer, and state the longest period of any individual?
§ Mr. SHORTAs the answer is long, I propose, with my hon. Friend's permission, to circulate it, in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. FREEMANWill the hon. Gentleman reply to the first part of my question as to whether the case of a man serving 35 years' penal servitude for thefts amounting to a total of £14 has been brought to his notice?
§ Mr. SHORTYes, I am aware of that case, and I understand that the learned Recorder took that view.
§ Mr. FREEMANIs there any machinery for reviewing cases of this description and was this particular case reviewed at all?
§ Mr. SHORTPerhaps the hon. Member had better read the answer which is rather long and goes into detail. I am not aware that there is any machinery for reviewing a case of that kind.
§ Mr. FREEMANWill the hon. Gentleman consider the desirability of setting up some form of inquiry into these State-made habitual criminals?
§ Following is the reply:
§ I understand that the case referred to is that of a man who on various occasions since 1876, when he was given three months for stealing 7s. 6d., has been convicted of housebreaking, shopbreaking and attempts, theft, assaulting Police and so on and has received three sentences of three months' imprisonment, three sentences of 12 months' imprisonment, and five sentences of seven years' penal servitude, two of which ran concurrently. I have no information as to the actual amounts of cash obtained by him on the occasions when he was convicted but understand that the learned Recorder computed the total at £14. He was bound over for two years in 1928 but 10 months later was convicted of stealing again; and he was also bound over last December at the age of 73 by the learned Recorder who afterwards attributed his shocking career to the short sentence passed upon him on his first conviction.
§ As regards the second part of the question, the exact information desired is not available, but it may serve the hon. Member's purpose if I say that the most recent figures collected show that in 1929 for thefts of various kinds except stealing horses and cattle, 125 persons were sentenced to imprisonment for more than one year, 54 to three years' penal servitude, five to four, five or seven years' penal servitude, and none for any longer term, eight habitual criminals were sent to preventive detention in addition to penal servitude, the longest joint sentence being one of three years' penal servitude and 10 years' preventive detention.