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Fraudulent confession of desertion, &c. from navy.
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10. Any person who shall voluntarily deliver himself up as and confess himself to be a deserter from any one of her Majesty’s ships or vessels, or improperly absent from such ship or vessel, or who while serving in any of her Majesty’s forces, or the embodied militia, . . . shall to any officer or non-commissioned officer thereof confess himself to be a deserter as aforesaid, or improperly absent as aforesaid, or who, upon being apprehended for any offence, shall in the presence of the justice confess himself to be a deserter, or improperly absent from his ship or vessel as aforesaid, and his statement shall not be true, he shall, if received into her Majesty’s naval service, be deemed in her Majesty’s navy, and be liable to serve and be detained therein as if he had voluntarily entered, or in case such person shall not be received into her Majesty’s navy, he shall, on conviction thereof before two justices of the peace, at or near the place where he shall deliver himself up or confess, or where he may at any time happen to be, be adjudged to be punished, if in England, as a rogue and a vagabond, and if in Scotland or Ireland, by commitment to some prison or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding three months.
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