§ 21. Mr. Radfordasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the case of three 10-year old boys who were recently charged at Luton with torturing 43 chickens to death; that the bench regretted that they had not the power to order the boys to be birched; and whether he will consider authorising the use of the birch for such cruelty to helpless creatures?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonMy attention had not been drawn previously to this case. The law does not enable a court to order a boy to be birched for a non-indictable offence. I should not be prepared to propose any amendment of the law so as to widen the powers of corporal punishment.
§ Mr. RadfordDoes not the right hon. Gentleman agree that helpless creatures under our control are entitled to all the protection that we can give them? What safeguard is provided against similar action in the future?
§ Mr. MorrisonI entirely agree with the first part of my hon. Friend's Supplementary Question. The action of the boys was reprehensible in the extreme, and the question is, What is the best remedy? In this case, the decision of the court was that the boys should serve 28 days in a remand home and that there should be two years' supervision by the probation officers. On balance, I think that is more likely to have good results than birching the boys.