§ Sir Richard Glynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the total number of males under 17 years who were convicted for any indictable offence in 1938 were convicted for violence against the person; and if he will give the corresponding figure for the last convenient 12 months.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe proportions were 0.42 per cent. in 1938 and 2.9 per cent. in 1960.
§ Sir Richard Glynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the difference in the proportion of males under 21 years who were reconvicted for crimes of violence between those who received corporal punishment after conviction for robbery with violence between 1921 and 1931 and those who did not receive corporal punishment after similar convictions in the same period; and if he will give comparable figures for 1932 to 1942.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe only relevant information is contained in the Report of the Departmental Committee on Corporal Punishment, 1938 (Cmd. 5694) and in the Return made to the House of Lords (121) in July, 1951. Neither of these reports deals with the precise periods specified in the Question. In the earlier report, which covered the period 1921 to 1930, it was stated that 81 persons aged under 21 were convicted of offences of robbery with violence under Section 23 (1) of the Larceny Act, 1916, and that of these, 22 were sentenced to corporal punishment and 59 were not. One of those sentenced to corporal punishment and eight of those not so sentenced were subsequently convicted of offences of violence. The House of Lords Paper, which covered the period 1931 to 1940, stated that 243 persons aged under 21 were convicted of offences 91W of robbery with violence and that of these, 74 were sentenced to corporal punishment and 169 were not. Eight of those sentenced to corporal punishment and 19 of those not so sentenced were subsequently convicted of offences of violence.