§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the case of Sidney Groom, eight and a-half years old, who was sent to a reformatory school by the magistrate at the Old Street Children's Court, on 29th September, to remain there until he is sixteen years of age, his offence being that he was guilty of secreting himself in railway trains and travelling from London to Sheffield, Nottingham, Exeter, and other places; that, apart from this mania for travelling, he was reported to be a good boy at school and at home; that he was taken to the Children's Court by the father in the hope that a short detention would cure him, and his parents are greatly distressed at the long period of detention; and, in view of the fact that he is an only child, will he consider the advisability of consulting the wishes of the parents and reducing the period of detention to six or twelve months?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe facts are as stated, except that the boy was sent, not to a reformatory, but to an industrial school, and that the rules of the industrial school provide for release of boys on licence after a few months. The boy is not likely to be detained more than six months—possibly less if he does well at the school.