§ 24. Mr. Redmayneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has taken note of a recent case of violent 2498 assault by a boy of 12 years of age on a girl of five years of age, particulars of which have been sent to him; and if he will make a statement on future policy in regard to the treatment of juvenile offenders.
§ Mr. EdeThe hon. Member drew my attention to this case, in which two brothers, aged 12 and nine, attacked two five-year old children; and I should like to express my sympathy with the feeling it has aroused and my concern for the victims. I have considered a suggestion made to me by the hon. Member that there should be an inquiry into the possibility of giving the courts power to impose corporal punishment in cases of this kind, but after studying the reports on the elder boy's background and personality I can find no grounds for thinking that corporal punishment would be a suitable form of treatment. Nor do I think that this case affords sufficient grounds for re-opening the question of the power of the court to order corporal punishment.
§ Mr. RedmayneDoes the right hon. Gentleman not agree that in the opinion of juvenile court magistrates, probation Officers, senior police officers and, indeed, some clerks to justices, corporal punishment is the only answer; and would he at least call in evidence those who were concerned with this case so that he may be sure that he has the best advice on the subject?
§ Mr. EdeWhen this matter was considered by the Magistrates' Association the opposite view to that expressed by the hon. Gentleman was adopted by a majority. I have made very careful inquiries into this case and into the personality of the older of these two boys.