§ Mr. MacCollasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state, for the last convenient year, how many children under the age of 12 years were found guilty of offences in the county of London and in the rest of England and Wales, respectively; and how they were dealt with.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerI am sorry I cannot give precisely that information; but I hope the following statistics, which are for 1955, will be of assistance:
Number of children under 12 years of age found guilty in England and Wales of indictable offences 10,321 Number of children under 14 years of age found guilty of indictable offences and how they were dealt with:
Court order Magistrates courts in the County of London All magistrates' courts in England and Wales Absolute discharge 165 2,057 Conditional discharge 595 5,609 Probation order 655 8,205 Fine 31 2,265 Approved school order 98 1,083 Fit person order 79 482 Attendance centre order 26 511* Otherwise dealt with 8 368 TOTAL 1,657 20,580 * Not all magistrates' courts outside the County of London are empowered to make attendance centre orders.