Criminal Justice Act 2006
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Possession of article intended for use in connection with certain offences. |
183.—(1) It is an offence for a person, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to possess or control any article with the intention of using it in the course of or in connection with the commission of— | |
(a) an offence under section 15 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 , or | ||
(b) the common law offence of kidnapping to which section 2 of, and paragraph 4 of the Schedule to, the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act 1976 applies. | ||
(2) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) the court (or the jury as the case may be) may— | ||
(a) having regard to all the circumstances (including the type of article alleged to have been intended for use in the course of or connection with the commission of an offence under this section), and | ||
(b) where it considers it reasonable to do so, | ||
regard possession of the article as sufficient evidence of intent for the purposes of subsection (1). | ||
(3) Where a person is charged with an offence referred to in subsection (1), no further proceedings in the matter (other than any remand in custody or on bail) may be taken except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions. | ||
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both. | ||
(5) In this section— | ||
“ article” includes a substance, document or any thing; | ||
“ document” includes— | ||
(a) a map, plan, graph, drawing, photograph or record, or | ||
(b) a reproduction in permanent legible form, by a computer or other means (including enlarging), of information in non-legible form. |