Corpun file 24877 at www.corpun.com

The Age, Melbourne, 29 November 1928, p.5

A Boy's Flogging.

Who Will Administer Court's Order?

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PERTH, Wednesday. -- A youthful burglar, 17 years of age, was ordered to receive ten strokes of the birch and be committed to an institution for two years, by the Children's Court yesterday. Although the law empowers the bench to order the flogging of boys, it is rarely resorted to as a corrective, being administered only in those cases which are regarded as being of a far more serious nature than usual. In this case the youth had five charges of stealing, breaking and entering, and being unlawfully on premises to answer, and he had given the authorities considerable trouble in the past, through his misdemeanors.

Difficulties have arisen, however, in cases in which boys have been ordered a flogging, because of the unwillingness of people to come forward to play the role of flagellator. It will be recalled that only a few months ago a boy was ordered to receive this form of punishment, and although efforts were made to carry the order into effect, they failed, and the flogging has not been inflicted up to now, and possibly may never be. It seems reasonable to suppose that the case dealt with yesterday will have the same sequel unless there has been a change of front on someone's part. It is probable that the matter has not yet come under the official notice of the authorities, but the chances are that they will be in the same dilemma as before.