Imprisoning Youths for Car Conversions
[Per Press Association. Copyright'.] WELLINGTON, This Day.
The matter of punishment for the offence of car conversion was the subject of a statement by the Minister of Justice, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, today. “It is a matter fbr magistrates and is not one in which the administration can properly interfere,” he said. He pointed out, however, that a difficulty was that about half the offenders were under 17 years of age and 80 or 90 per cent, were under 23. A grave responsibility rested on the judicial officer who sent a young offender to prison for such an offence. English Lead.
The extent to which current aversion to imprisonment of young persons went, he said, was shown by the Criminal Justice Bill, introduced recently in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary. In that Bill it was proposed to make it illegal to imprison any person under 16, and to provide also that none under 23 should be imprisoned, except after certain exhaustive inquiries. The Minister pointed out the serious danger created by car conversions, and said there was a responsibility on car drivers to see" that their cars were left locked or so disabled that they could not be driven off.
He again appealed to motorists to take the simple precaution required.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19390124.2.72
Bibliographic details
Northern Advocate, 24 January 1939, Page 7
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221Imprisoning Youths for Car Conversions Northern Advocate, 24 January 1939, Page 7
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