§ Mr. FlookTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the last occasion was that a British citizen was charged under(a) section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 and (b) section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; and what resulted from these charges. [151855]
§ John HealeySection 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 imposes a prohibition on the import of indecent and obscene articles. Section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 creates the criminal offence of contravening this prohibition. The last occasion on which Customs charged a British Citizen under this legislation was 31 January 2003. This person was sentenced on 12 March 2003 to a three-year Community Rehabilitation Order and ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.
638WSince April 2003 Customs and Excise have refocused their strategy for detections of such material at import, placing greater emphasis on working more closely with other agencies, including the passing of intelligence to the police for further investigation and prosecution as appropriate.