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Forfeiture of boats used in the commission of certain offences.
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14.—The Act of 1978 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 4 (as amended by section 7 of the Act of 1983) thereof:
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“4.—(1) Where on conviction on indictment of a person for an offence under any of the following sections of the Principal Act, that is to say, sections 221, 222, 222A, 222B, 222C, 223, 223A, 224B, 226 and 227—
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(a) that offence (or that offence when taken in conjunction with any other offence or offences, under any of those sections, of which that person has been so convicted) is considered by the Court to constitute a serious abuse of measures prescribed and adopted under section 223A (1) (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 1983), or
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(b) (i) the conviction is a second or subsequent conviction on indictment for an offence under any of those sections committed on board the same boat within three years of the date of the commission of the previous offence and whether the person convicted is or is not the same person on each occasion, and
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(ii) the boat is at the time of the commission of the offence owned or part owned by a person who was the owner or part owner of the boat on the occasion of the commission of any of the previous offences referred to in subparagraph (i),
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the Court may, at its discretion, in addition to any other fines and forfeitures to which the person may be liable, order the boat to be forfeited.
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(2) Where—
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(a) the conviction is a second or subsequent conviction on indictment for an offence under one of the sections mentioned in subsection (1) committed on board the same boat and the date of the second or subsequent offence is within three years of the date of commission of the previous offence and whether the person convicted is or is not the same person on each occasion, and
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(b) the ownership has changed between the commission of the first and second or subsequent offences, then if the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the change of ownership has been effected in order to evade a possible forfeiture of the boat upon a subsequent conviction the onus shall be on the owner to furnish to the Court sufficient evidence showing, to the satisfaction of the Court, that—
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(i) neither the legal or beneficial ownership of nor any legal or beneficial interest in the boat remains with the owner or a part owner of the boat at the time of the previous offence, and
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(ii) the sale, assignment or transfer of the boat was done in good faith and for valuable consideration reflecting the market price or worth of the boat for the period in which it was acquired,
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and where such evidence fails to satisfy the Court,
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the Court may, at its discretion, in addition to any other fines and forfeitures to which the person may be liable, order the boat to be forfeited.
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(3) For the purposes of this section owner and part owner shall include a person who, although no longer the legal owner or part owner, handles, manages or carries on the operation of the boat.
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(4) The Court shall not order any boat to be forfeited pursuant to subsection (1) or (2) if a person claiming to be the owner of or otherwise interested in it applies to be heard before the Court to show cause why the order should not be made.
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(5) The Court in ordering the forfeiture of a boat under this section may, if a mortgagee or chargeholder satisfies the Court that he granted a mortgage or charge in respect of the boat to its owner or owners in good faith, order that the boat be sold and that some or all of the proceeds be paid to the mortgagee or chargeholder to meet the outstanding mortgage or charge.”.
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