Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

149 Non-payment of penalties, etc.: maximum terms of imprisonment

(1) Where, in any proceedings for an offence under the customs and excise Acts, a magistrates' court in England or Wales or a court of summary jurisdiction in Scotland, in addition to ordering the person convicted to pay a penalty for the offence—

(a) orders him to be imprisoned for a term in respect of the same offence; and

(b) further (whether at the same time or subsequently) orders him to be imprisoned for a term in respect of non-payment of that penalty or default of a sufficient distress to satisfy the amount of that penalty,

the aggregate of the terms for which he is so ordered to be imprisoned shall not exceed 15 months.

(2) Where the sum adjudged to be paid by the conviction of a court of summary jurisdiction in Scotland under the customs and excise Acts (including any expenses adjudged to be paid by the conviction whose amount is ascertained by the conviction) exceeds £50 the maximum period of imprisonment that may be imposed in respect of the non-payment of that sum shall, notwithstanding anything in section 199 of the [1975 c. 21.] Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975, be fixed in accordance with the following scale, that is to say—

Where the amount of the sum adjudged to be paid by the conviction—	The said period shall be a period not exceeding—
exceeds £50 but does not exceed £100	90 days
exceeds £100 but does not exceed £250	6 months
exceeds £250 but does not exceed £500	9 months
exceeds £500	12 months.

(3) Where, under any enactment for the time being in force in Northern Ireland, a court of summary jurisdiction has power to order a person to be imprisoned in respect of the non-payment of a penalty, or of the default of a sufficient distress to satisfy the amount of that penalty, for a term in addition and succession to a term of imprisonment imposed for the same offence as the penalty, then in relation to a sentence for an offence under the customs and excise Acts the aggregate of those terms of imprisonment may, notwithstanding anything in any such enactment, be any period not exceeding 15 months.