HC Deb 10 July 1933 vol 280 cc749-50
35. Mr. BROCKLEBANK

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the sentence of four years' detention in an industrial school passed on Woodford Shore, a boy of 13, at the Surrey Quarter Sessions recently, where he was tried with four other lads on charges of breaking and entering certain premises; whether he is aware that one of the lads was found not guilty and discharged, and that three others of 14, 16, and 17 years old, respectively, were found guilty and bound over to be of good behaviour for two years; and, in view of the fact that the reason for the difference in Shore's sentence was on the grounds of the statement made at the trial that he was the ringleader and that no evidence was called in support of that statement, and in view of the difference in the ages of the youths and in the punishments awarded, whether he will take the necessary steps so to vary Shore's sentence as to bring it into line with the sentences passed on the other youths?

Mr. HACKING

My right hon. Friend has been in communication with my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Epsom (Commander Southby) in regard to this case. The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative, except that the school referred to is certified under the Children Act, 1908, as a reformatory school and not as an industrial school. I have made inquiries and I am informed that the Court after careful consideration of all the circumstances decided that probation was not the right method to adopt but that it was necessary in the lad's best interests to remove him from his associations and send him to a residential school where he would be suitably trained under proper supervision. I understand that the court's decision was not affected by the statement that he was the ringleader. My right hon. Friend regrets that he would not feel justified in advising any interference with the court's decision and, in any ease, he has no power to substitute a probation order for an order of committal to a reformatory school. I would add that although the order of committal was for a period of four years, the managers of the school have power to release the boy earlier on licence, and the actual length of his stay in the school will depend on his conduct and progress.