§ Mr. ARTHUR HENDERSONasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to a case tried at Rotherham Police Court on the 11th instant, in which a young man named Mark Calladine was committed to prison for three months on a charge of stealing potatoes; whether he is aware that Calladine is mentally weak, has never been able to work, and has never been charged before; and whether, in view of these circumstances, and of the fact that Calladine took no active part in the commission of the crime, he will consider the possibility of remitting or materially reducing the sentence?
§ Mr. McKENNAI have inquired into the case, and find that in the opinion of the medical officer of the prison the prisoner is feeble-minded. No representation on this point was made to the justices until after they had passed the sentence, and they could then only call the attention of the prison authorities to the matter. If the prisoner has friends who can undertake to look after him and control him, I shall be glad to consider the question of remitting the remainder of the sentence. The Mental Deficiency Act, under which he might foe dealt with, does not come into force until 1st April.