HC Deb 19 October 1950 vol 478 cc2219-21
35. Miss Hornsby-Smith

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the penalties for cruelty to children are adequate, having regard to the suffering of young children who have been the victims of negligence and assault.

40. Surgeon Lieut.-Commander Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is contemplating to meet the widespread demand for an increase in the penalties, especially imprisonment, for cruelty to children.

41. Wing Commander Bullus

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will increase the maximum penalties for sentences given in cases of cruelty to children and to animals.

Mr. Ede

As regards penalties for cruelty to children, a person guilty of cruelty to a child is liable on summary conviction to six months' imprisonment and a fine of £25 or further imprisonment in default of payment, and on conviction on indictment to two years' imprisonment and a fine of £100. Within these limits, the appropriate penalty in any particular case is a matter for the court to decide. I see no reason to think that the powers given by the existing law are inadequate. As regards cruelty to animals, the law provides for a maximum penalty of three months' imprisonment, either in addition, or as an alternative, to a fine of £25. Furthermore, where the owner of an animal is convicted of cruelty to it, a court has power to deprive him of ownership. On the information before me I see no ground for thinking that these maximum penalties are not adequate.

Miss Hornsby-Smith

In view of the very trivial sentences which are passed on many people who are guilty of these horrible crimes, will the Home Secretary review the matter again, particularly in view of the fact that in many cases small sentences lessen the powers of authorised bodies like the N.S.P.C.C.?

Mr. Ede

I do not have anything to do with the sentences; once a sentence has been passed by the court I cannot increase it. I hope that the publicity given to this matter recently will direct the attention of some benches of magistrates to the state of public feeling on this subject.

Surgeon Lieut.-Commander Bennett

In view of the reasonable assumption that cruelty to children is very often reflected in later life in their behaviour as citizens, does the Home Secretary agree that a good deal of leniency which is rather misguided is being indulged in at present?

Mr. Ede

I must not be taken as making any general comment on the sentences being imposed by the magistrates who hear the cases and deliberate on the evidence and in most cases, I am quite sure, have the real interest of the children at heart.

Mr. Janner

Will my right hon. Friend give some intimation, by means of a circular, to the benches of magistrates so that they may understand the state of public feeling in this matter and give it full consideration?

Mr. Ede

As I have told the House, I am always reluctant to issue circulars to magistrates. I have been a magistrate for 27 years and I know where most of the circulars go.

Mr. Geoffrey Wilson

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that many cases of cruelty to children are attributable to inadequate housing?

Mr. Ede

There are all sorts of causes.

Mr. Keeling

Is it not rare for the maximum penalty to be imposed, and is it not quite clear that if the sentences are inadequate the remedy rests with the courts?

Mr. Ede

For most offences which are committed, particularly motoring offences, the maximum penalty is rarely inflicted. The House has, quite rightly, left a discretion to the magistrates, within the maximum fixed, to determine the punishment in accordance with their view of the crime and the criminal.

Miss Irene Ward

Will the right hon. Gentleman look into the relationship between courts of summary jurisdiction and quarter sessions? This has an important bearing on the whole question.

Mr. Ede

I do not quite know what the hon. Lady means by that, but it is not for me to direct justices as to which cases they should send to quarter sessions.

36. Mr. Russell

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to reduce more drastically the number of offences of cruelty to children and animals.

Mr. Ede

So far as concerns cruelty to children, a joint circular from the Home Office, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education was sent on 31st July to all county and county borough councils in England and Wales, urging them to arrange for improved co-ordination of all the local services, both statutory and voluntary, which are concerned with the welfare of children in their own homes, and suggesting lines on which the necessary co-operation could be achieved. As regards cruelty to animals, I am satisfied that the police and the animal protection societies are fully alive to the need for vigilance and action in dealing with this problem, and that there is no hesitation in bringing proceedings against those found to be offending. The resulting publicity cannot but be educational and should act as a deterrent.