Street and House To House Collections Act, 1962

Prohibition of collectors under age of fourteen.

15.—(1) A person who has not attained the age of fourteen years shall not act as a collector in a collection.

(2) Where a person acts as a collector in a collection in contravention of this section, whichever of the following provisions is applicable shall have effect, that is to say:

(a) if the collector holds a collector's authorisation, the person by whom the authorisation is granted shall be guilty of an offence,

(b) if the collector does not hold a collector's authorisation and the collection is held under a collection permit, the holder of the permit shall be guilty of an offence,

(c) in any other case, the person by whom the collection is held shall, unless he is also the collector, be guilty of an offence.

(3) Where a person is charged with an offence under this section, it shall be a good defence to the charge for the person to show—

(a) if he is charged as the person who granted the collector's authorisation to the collector, that when he granted such authorisation he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the collector had not attained the age of fourteen years, or

(b) in any other case, that he did not know and could not reasonably have known that the collector was acting as a collector in the collection in relation to which the charge is made.

(4) In a prosecution in relation to a person who is alleged to have acted as a collector in a collection in contravention of this section, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the person has not attained the age of fourteen years.