§ 2.47 p.m.
§ BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGERMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they approve the practice under which university and college students who are apparently involved in criminal offences are not prosecuted; and on what grounds this differentiation between students and the rest of the population is justified.]
§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, except where there is a statutory restriction on the right of the police to prosecute, it is the responsibility of the police to decide, in all the circumstances of a particular case, whether proceedings should be taken. Her Majesty's Government know of no evidence to suggest that there has been discrimination in favour of a particular class of persons.
§ BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGERMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his Answer, and I appreciate the constutional position. But is the Minister aware that there have been in the past year two incidents—one at Oxford and one at Cambridge—each of which resulted in a death, and a third at Welwyn Garden City by which a breach of the peace might have been caused, and that in not one of these cases were criminal proceedings instituted, and that in the two more serious cases no disciplinary action was taken by the university 1145 authorities? Does the Minister appreciate that it is being widely said that there is one law for the student population and another for the rest?
§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, whatever has been said, this is not a matter for Her Majesty's Government, but for the chief officer of police.