12.—(1) No member of a police force may by word, message, writing or in any other manner, endeavour to persuade any person to give, or dissuade any person from giving, that person’s vote, whether as an elector or as proxy in the referendum, in a voting area wholly or partly within the police area.
(2) A person acting in contravention of sub-paragraph (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale; but nothing in that sub-paragraph subjects a member of a police force to any penalty for anything done in the discharge of that member’s duty as a member of the force.