Defence of due diligence
24.—(1) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under regulation 23(1) to show that the person took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid commission of the offence.
(2) If in any proceedings for such an offence the defence provided by paragraph (1) involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due to—
(a)an act or default of another person, or
(b)reliance on information given by another person,
the defendant is not, without leave of the court, entitled to rely on that defence unless the requirement in paragraph (3) is satisfied.
(3) The requirement is that at least 7 clear days before the hearing of the proceedings the defendant has served on the prosecutor a notice giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in the defendant’s possession.
(4) A defendant is not entitled to rely on the defence provided by paragraph (1) by reason of the defendant’s reliance on information supplied by another person unless the defendant shows that it was reasonable in all the circumstances to rely on the information, having regard in particular to—
(a)the steps which the defendant took or might reasonably have taken to verify the information, and
(b)whether the defendant had any reason to disbelieve the information.