Note 85 — Chapter V · THE FIRST REPORT OF THE INSPECTORS OF PRISONS.

In 1833 a sentence of death was passed on a child of nine, who had poked a stick through a patched-up pane of glass in a shop-front, and thrusting his hand through the aperture, had stolen fifteen pieces of paint, worth twopence. This was construed into house-breaking, the principal witness being another child of nine, who “told” because he had not his share of the paint. The boy was not executed.