§ Mr. Battleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the comparative numbers of juvenile offenders, boys and girls, during the 12-month period following the 1914–18 war and the 12-month period following the 1939–45 war.
§ Mr. EdeThe available statistics do not enable a precise comparison to be made because the Children and Young Persons Act, 1932, raised the age of "young persons" from 16 to 17. In 1919 the number of persons under 16 years of age found guilty in magistrates courts of indictable and non-indictable offences was 40,710 (38,930 boys and 1,780 girls). In the 12 months ended 30th June, 1946, the figures relate to persons under 17 years of age and show a total of 66,011 (61,207 boys and 4,804 girls).
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§ Mr. Haleasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the figures for each year from 1939 to 1945, inclusive, showing how the following cases of boys and girls in the juvenile courts were disposed of: dismissals under the Probation of Offenders Act, binding over without
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DISPOSAL OF PERSONS UNDER 17 YEARS OF AGE, FOUND GUILTY IN MAGISTRATES' COURT OF OFFENCES. Year. Total Found Guilty. DISPOSAL. Dismissed under P.O. Act. Recogs. without Probation Order. Recogs. with Probation Order. Approved School. Care of Fit Person. Institute for Defectives. Imprisonment. Whipping. Committed to Q.S. with recommendation for Borstal. Otherwise disposed of.* INDICTABLE OFFENCES. Males. 1939 28,717 6,756 2,062 14,492 4,863 157 73 9 47 32 2,226 1940 38,932 8,248 2,880 18,094 4,494 166 91 17 265 42 4,635 1941 39,713 8,291 2,811 17,384 4,433 200 118 23 473 66 5,914 1942 34,740 7,459 2,179 14,905 4,005 180 97 11 290 97 5,517 1943 34,894 7,977 2,211 15,524 3,602 182 97 11 135 55 5,100 1944 36,727 8,886 2,367 16,113 3,477 154 92 16 31 55 5,536 1945 39,601 19,437 2,620 16,080 3,406 170 92 20 21 61 6,685 Females. 1939 1,826 322 100 1,106 178 29 11 — — — 80 1940 2,946 522 202 1,642 347 34 7 2 — 2 188 1941 3,503 647 227 1,858 435 42 12 1 — 6 275 1942 3,466 652 211 1,888 359 56 17 2 — 6 274 1943 3,479 667 193 1,944 350 42 15 1 — 3 264 1944 3,394 717 195 1,796 359 41 9 3 — 2 272 1945 3,222 755 227 1,553 314 45 17 2 — — 309 NON-INDICTABLE OFFENCES (INCLUDING OFFENCES AGAINST THE DEFENCE REGULATIONS: Males. 1939 21,232 8,266 689 1,411 153 11 5 — 3 6 10,688 1940 22,509 7,305 664 1,449 197 8 7 2 18 10 12,849 1941 27,014 8,022 874 1,988 231 9 12 2 28 5 15,843 1942 26,168 7,852 728 1,697 137 7 7 2 4 6 15,728 1943 27,004 8,056 890 1,742 148 6 4 — 14 5 16,139 1944 25,238 8,228 1,019 1,630 147 22 10 2 — 2 14,178 1945 27,872 9,400 1,007 1,696 135 4 5 2 — 3 15,620 Females. 1939 1,039 374 21 38 4 — — — — 0 602 1940 1,384 331 14 48 10 1 2 1 — 1 976 1941 1,875 457 41 132 10 4 2 — — 1 1,228 1942 1,805 432 56 93 9 — 2 — — 1 1,212 1943 2,282 568 40 169 19 2 — — — — 1,484 1944 2,277 604 89 176 45 4 2 — — 3 1,354 1945 2,245 679 43 166 33 3 1 1 — 2 1,317 * Most of the cases in this column are dealt with by fines. Of the 23,931 offences "otherwise disposed of" in 1945, 22,769 were dealt with by fines. supervision, probation, committal to an approved school, committal to the care of a fit person, committal to an institute for mental defectives, imprisonment, birching and committal to quarter sessions with a recommendation for Borstal.