§ 5. Commander Keransasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will introduce legislation to prohibit male persons who have been convicted of sexual offences against children perpetrated in cars, lorries, or vehicles, from holding for life any form of driving licence on completion of their sentence or sentences.
§ The Minister of State, Home Department (Mr. Dennis Vosper)My right hon. Friend has carefully considered the suggestion made by my hon. and gallant Friend and he well understands and sympathises with the feelings which 1361 have prompted it. He is not convinced, however, that it offers an effective or appropriate method of dealing with the problem.
§ Commander KeransWhile thanking my right hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask him whether he will agree that this type of crime is very much on the increase? There is an example in The Times today of a man attempting to rape a girl of 14 years, for which he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Surely the imposition of this suggestion of mine would act as a deterrent and would prevent this loathsome type of crime being perpetrated by these individuals.
§ Mr. VosperThese crimes certainly attract a great deal of publicity. When the Cambridge Department of Criminal Science investigated sexual offences in 1957, it found that 3.4 per cent. of these offences were committed in a vehicle. The difficulty is that the possession of a car facilitates the commission of many crimes and it would be difficult to find a reason for singling out sexual offences as a reason for the prohibition of driving.