Appendix L.
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PRISONS FOR THE YEAR 1931.
The number of prisoners received into prison during the year and the corresponding number for 1930 were as follows:-
1930 1931 Convicted by Ordinary Courts 5,624 5,921 Debtors 73 44 On remand or in default of finding surety 796 802 Total........... 6,493 6,7672. Fifty-three boys were admitted as Juveniles i.e. under sixteen years of age, during the year with sentences varying from five days detention to twelve months hard labour. Of this number twenty-three only were treated as Juvenile Offenders; the others in the opinions of the Superintendent and Medical Officer being over sixteen years of age. In three cases corporal punishment was awarded by courts in addition to sentences of imprisonment.
3. The percentage of convicted prisoners admitted to prison with previous convictions recorded against them was 21.8 as compared with 22.8 for 1930.
4. 266 prisoners were convicted by Police Courts in the New Territories against 260 for the previous year.
5. The following table shows the number of convicts in custody on the 31st December for the past ten years, and the percentage of the total number of prisoners in custody to the estimated population of Hong Kong:-
Year Estimated population Number of convicts Percentage of population Daily average number of prisoners Percentage of population 1922 662,200 259 0.039 787 0.119 1923 681,800 294 0.043 861 0.126 1924 799,550 345 0.043 1,066 0.133 1925 874,420 394 0.045 1,116 0.128 1926 786,920 409 0.052 1,054 0.134 1927 890,400 392 0.044 1,189 0.136 1928 1,075,690 352 0.033 1,071 0.100 1929 1,075,690 331 0.031 1,075 0.100 1930 1,143,510 256 0.022 1,175 0.103 1931 849,751 202 0.024 1,102 0.130*From 1931 Census. Population in previous years over estimated.
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