Mr. FRED HALL (Dulwich)asked the Home Secretary if his attention has been called to two charges recently brought before the magistrate at Bow Street and Marlborough Street Police Courts for driving to the public danger, in one of which the accused, a taxi-cab driver, was severely punished for being intoxicated while in charge of a car, while in the other case, that of a young woman charged with a similar offence, a light penalty only was imposed; and if he will inquire into the matter and, if the facts justify such action, order the release of the man?
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§ Mr. McKENNAThe cases referred to were not tried at Bow Street, but at other Police Courts. The difference in the sentences was due to the different circumstances. If the hon. Member has anything to urge on behalf of the taxi-cab driver, who had been twice previously convicted, and who on this occasion drove at twenty miles an hour in a dense fog and collided with another cab, injuring the occupants of both, I shall, of course, consider it; but the fact that another offender was less severely punished would not in any case be a reason for interference. The other offender mentioned in the question was a young girl; she caused no actual damage, and it was her first offence.