Valid from 01/01/2007
(1)A court by or before which a person is convicted of an offence under this Act may make an order for the forfeiture of an article that appears to the court to relate to the offence.
(2)A forfeiture order—
(a)may include such provision about the treatment of the article forfeited as the court thinks appropriate, and
(b)subject to any provision made under paragraph (a), shall be treated as requiring any person in possession of the article to surrender it to a constable as soon as is reasonably practicable.
(3)Where—
(a)a court proposes to make a forfeiture order in respect of an article, and
(b)a person notifies the court that he has an interest in the article,
the court may not make the order without first giving the person an opportunity to make representations.
(4)The court which made a forfeiture order may order that the forfeited article be given up to a person who claims to have an interest in it.
(5)A person commits an offence if he fails to—
(a)comply with a forfeiture order, or
(b)co-operate with a step taken for the purpose of giving effect to a forfeiture order.
(6)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (5) shall be liable on summary conviction to—
(a)imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks,
(b)a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
(c)both.
(7)In the application of subsection (6) to Scotland the reference to 51 weeks shall have effect as a reference to six months.