§ 18. Mr. John Harveyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of young first offenders between the ages of eight and 11 subsequently come before the juvenile courts charged with a second offence.
§ Miss BaconSince 1st February, 1964, no child under the age of 10 can be guilty of an offence; and the information asked for is not available for those between 10 and 11. Some figures relating to a very small sample of offenders found guilty of indictable offences and the more important non-indictable offences in the Metropolitan area in 1957 are included in Table 1 on page 43 of the Home Office publication "The Sentence of the Court".
§ Mr. HarveyCan the Minister of State confirm that those figures suggest that more than 50 per cent. of these youngsters 726 appeared a second time? The purpose of my Question was to find out whether the hon. Lady had any reason to believe that circumstances were now improving in this respect.
§ Miss BaconI have no figures to show that they are improving. They simply show that some 53 per cent. of first offenders were found guilty of further offences within five years. I have no figures to show that the position is improving, but I am sure that the whole House will feel that these figures are rather disturbing, and that we ought to do everything we possibly can to see that young offenders do not come before the courts again.