§ 9. Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of persons held in prison before trial in 1962; what was the average period for which they were so held; and what proportion of such persons, when tried, were found not guilty or sentenced only to a fine.
§ 42. Mr. Carmichaelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases in the last year for which statistics are available accused persons have been detained in prison pending trial who were eventually dealt with by fine, probation discharge, or acquittal.
§ Mr. NobleDuring 1962, 9,303 men and 540 women were admitted to prison untried, on an average they were held between 12 and 13 days. These figures include those refused bail and those who had not yet arranged bail. Of these, 4,787 men and 370 women paid fines or were admonished, placed on probation or disposed of otherwise than by detention; 964 men and 93 women were found not guilty, and the remaining 3,552 men and 77 women were sentenced to detention. I regret that there is no separate information available regarding the number fined.
§ Mr. LawsonDoes not the right hon. Gentleman agree that this is a shocking indictment of what is happening in Scottish courts? Is he aware that this is much more than double the English-Welsh proportion? Is there not strong evidence that our courts are using remands in custody as an additional punishment? Will he look into this question and see that if this practice is followed—and all the evidence suggests that it is—it is stopped at once? Is it not a fantastic position that 900 people should be sent to prison and 339 then found not guilty? I hope that he will tell us now what he intends to do to stop this kind of practice.
§ Mr. NobleWhether people appear in court and are found not guilty is not a question over which I can have any direct influence, but I will certainly look at the matter in the light of what the hon. Gentleman has said. I am aware that the position is worse than it is in England, and I am not pleased that that should be so.