§ Mr. C. Osborneasked the Secretary Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases are known to the police of wage robbery, for each year since 1948, when robbery with violence ceased to be punishable by corporal punishment; what estimate he has made of the rise or fall in this type of crime since the abolition of this form of punishment for it; if he will reintroduce corporal punishment for this offence; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe only relevant figures available are those for robberies from roundsmen and messengers going to and from banks and offices in the Metropolitan Police District. There were fewer than 20 of these offences in each of the years from 1949 to 1955. The figures for the years 1956 to 1960 were 25, 31, 42, 103 and 114 respectively. These figures suggest that there is no connection between the abolition of corporal punishment in 1948 and the more recent increase in this kind of offence.