§ Lords Amendment agreed to.
§
Lords Amendment No. 10: In page 7, line 8, at end insert:
For the purposes of this subsection an offence under Section 14(1) of the Criminal
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Justice Administration Act 1914 (which provides for damage committed wilfully or maliciously to be punishable on summary conviction) shall be treated as an indictable offence within the meaning of the said Act of 1952.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
It has the effect of allowing a court to order compensation in care proceedings where less than £5 malicious damage is involved. This deals with a point made by the Opposition on Report.
§ Mr. CarlisleI welcome this Amendment. As the hon. Gentleman said, it deals with the point which I raised on Report, and it meets it correctly.
The point was that in not only those cases under £5 but the vast majority of cases of malicious damage, prosecutions are brought under the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, rather than under the Malicious Damage Act. At that time, I suggested that the wording used by the Government did not cover those cases. From the arguments then advanced by the hon. Gentleman, it became apparent that probably it did in all those cases other than those involving sums less than £5. However, the hon. Gentleman will realise that, although he said that my Amendment was unnecessary, his argument to justify the steps proposed by the Government was a complicated one. In putting down this Amendment, the position has been made clear beyond doubt, and I am grateful for that.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.