HC Deb 12 May 1960 vol 623 cc604-5
19. Sir R. Glyn

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many males under 14 years of age were convicted at assizes or quarter sessions for felonious or malicious wounding or at magistrates' courts for wounding, either as felony or as misdemeanour, in the calendar year 1959; how many males between the ages of 14 and 17 years were similarly convicted; and by what proportion the convictions for wounding by males under 17 years of age have increased since the last year before the war for which records are available.

Mr. Vosper

As the answer includes a number of figures, I will with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Sir R. Glyn

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in 1938 at assizes and quarter sessions there was no conviction for wounding by juveniles under 14 and the total number under 17 in all courts was only just over 100? On the figures for 1958, that is less than one-eighth of the current figure. Does not my right hon. Friend agree that this offence has increased faster than any other type of offence and that this habit of wounding and violence, acquired while young, may have caused the increased use of firearms by older people, about which we have heard so much lately, sometimes with fatal results? Since it is obvious that there is at present no form of deterrent which is proving effective, will my right hon. Friend consider giving the courts the power, where probation has been

THE CLASSIFICATIONS "FELONIOUS WOUNDING" AND "MALICIOUS WOUNDING" COMPRISE A VARISTY OF OFFENCES NOT ALL OF WHICH INVOLVE WOUNDING. THE FIGURES FOR 1959 ARE AS FOLLOWS
— Males under 14 years Males aged 14 but under 17 years
Convicted at assizes or quarter sessions Found guilty by magistrates courts Convicted at assizes or quarter sessions Found guilty by magistrate courts
Offences classified as felonious wounding — 13 18 53
Offences classified as malicious wounding (misdemeanours) — 192 16 846
Ninety-eight males under 17 were found guilty of offences classified as woundings during 1938. The corresponding figure for 1959 was 1,138. It is possible that some kinds of offence now dealt with as malicious wounding may before the war have been dealt with as common assault.