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PART 4
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MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
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| | 14 Powers of entry, inspection and examination
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(1) An authorised officer, on producing if so required a duly authenticated document showing his authority, or any constable may-
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(a) at all reasonable times enter and inspect any premises registered under section 4 (Registration of dealers in second-hand goods) of this Act and inspect or take copies of any record kept in pursuance of section 5 (Information to be kept by registered dealers in second-hand goods) of this Act and may do all such things as are reasonably necessary for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is, or has been, in or in connection with, the premises, a contravention of that section; |
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(b) subject to subsection (2) below, at all reasonable times enter and inspect any premises not registered under the said section 4 (other than premises used solely as a private dwelling-house), if he has reasonable cause to believe they are being used for, or in connection with, the business of a dealer in second-hand goods, for the purposes of ascertaining whether in connection with such premises there is a contravention of that section; |
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(c) subject to subsection (2) below, enter and inspect any premises (other than premises used solely as a private dwelling-house) if he has reasonable cause to believe that they are being, have been or are intended to be, used for or in connection with an occasional sale or the carrying out of squat trading, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is or has been, in, or in connection with, the premises a contravention of any provision of Part 3 (Occasional sales and squat trading) of this Act; |
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(d) at all reasonable times enter any premises for the purpose of serving a notice under subsection (3) of section 10 (Notice of occasional sales and squat trading) of this Act; or |
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(e) at all reasonable times enter any premises for the purpose of inspecting or taking copies of any record kept in pursuance of section 11 (Information to be kept by holder of certain occasional sales). |
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(2) Subsections (2), (3) and (4) of section 287 of the Public Health Act 1936 (c. 49) shall apply in respect of entry to premises for the purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) above as they apply to entry to premises for the purposes of subsection (1) of that section.
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| | 15 Obstruction of authorised officer
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(1) Any person who-
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(a) intentionally obstructs any authorised officer acting in the exercise of his powers under this Act; or |
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(b) without reasonable cause fails to give any authorised officer any assistance or information which the officer may reasonably require of him for the purposes of the exercise of the officer's functions under any provision of this Act; |
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shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. |
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(2) Subsection (1)(b) above applies in relation to a constable as it applies in relation to an authorised officer.
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(3) A person shall be guilty of an offence if, in giving any information which is required of him by virtue of section 10 (Notice of occasional sales and squat trading) of this Act or by virtue of subsection (1)(b) above-
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(a) he makes any statement which he knows is false in a material particular; or |
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(b) he recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular. |
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(4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (3) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
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| | 16 Defence of due diligence
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(1) In proceedings for any offence under this Act it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
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(2) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (4) of section 6 (Offences under Part 2) of this Act, in addition to the defence provided by subsection (1) above, it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he had no reason to suspect that the person from whom he acquired the second-hand goods was under the age of 16.
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(3) If in any case the defence provided under subsection (1) above involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless, no later than 7 clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information as was then in his possession identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person.
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| | 17 Liability of directors, etc.
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(1) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of the offence.
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(2) Where the affairs of the body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) above shall apply to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
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| | 18 Restriction on right to prosecute
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The written consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions is needed for the laying of an information of an offence created by this Act by any person other than the council, the county council or a constable.
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