§ 55. Dr. Kingasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will introduce a Measure to increase the penalties for crimes committed by members of gangs.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe law already provides severe penalties for the types of crime which are commonly committed by gangs, and there are no 592 sufficient grounds for proposing any increases in them. It would not be possible to prescribe a higher maximum penalty, for an individual who commits a crime, on the ground that he is a member of a gang.
§ Dr. KingIf the law is adequate, will the Minister bear in mind that any steps which he takes to secure exemplary punishment for gangsterdom, and particularly of young folk who hunt in gangs, will have the support of the British people? Will he ask the Press to help him by painting a less glamorous and more realistic picture of the cowardly behaviour of those who hunt in gangs?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe hon. Member will appreciate that the punishment for certain primes of the sort to which one assumes he is referring is, in more than one case, imprisonment for life.