The Times, London, 11 December 1947

Amendments to new Bill

From Our Parliamentary Correspondent

Further amendments which have been tabled in the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Criminal Justice Bill seek to restore whipping as a punishment for male offenders.

An amendment by Mr. Manningham-Buller and Mr. Gage proposes that a male offender may be privately whipped provided that the maximum number of strokes should be 25, that they should not exceed 12 for offenders under 17, or 10 for those under 14, and that no whipping should take place after the expiration of six months of the passing of sentence. Mr. Hogg has an amendment down restricting whipping to male offenders over 21 convicted of offences under the sections of the Larceny Act, 1916, which deal with robbery with violence and kindred offences, and sections of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861, or the Garrotters Act, 1863, which deal with suffocation with intent to commit an indictable offence.