§ 37. Sir P. Harrisasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the case of a mother in Burton-on-Trent, charged with receiving stolen milk cheques, valued at a few pence, obtained by her 11 year old son, and who was sent to prison for 21 days; and whether, in view of the fact that she is a mother of six children and that her husband had been out of work for two years, he will consider remitting the sentence?
§ Sir J. SimonMy attention had not previously been drawn to this case, but on inquiry I find that on 25th March the woman in question pleaded guilty to two charges of receiving milk checks which had been stolen by her small boy, and that a further 20 charges involving 46 milk checks were also admitted by her and taken into consideration when sentence was passed. I am informed that these offences were committed during February and March at a time when her husband and eldest son were both in
| — | Persons proceeded against. | Charge withdrawn or dismissed.* | ||||||
| 1935. | ||||||||
| Metropolitan Police District | … | … | … | 3,762 | 1,264 | |||
| Rest of England and Wales | … | … | … | 1,115 | 259 | |||
| Total | … | … | … | 4,877 | 1,523 | |||
| 1936. | ||||||||
| Metropolitan Police District | … | … | … | 2,714 | 1,001 | Provisional figures. | ||
| Rest of England and Wales | … | … | … | 1,026 | 217 | |||
| Total | … | … | … | 3,740 | 1,218 | |||
| * The figures in this column do not include cases in which the Court found the charge proved but decided to dismiss it under Section 1 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907 |
§ 40. Mr. Thurtleasked ale Home Secretary whether he is now in a position to state the result of his inquiries into the case of the wrongful arrest of Mr. Alfred Henry Lane, of Shoreditch; and what action, if any, he proposes to take?
§ regular employment; that there are a number of centres where she could, if necessary, have obtained milk free of charge for her children; and that as a result of the thefts innocent persons had come under suspicion. This women has now served a fortnight of her sentence, and in view of this I am communicating with the magistrates as to the remainder.