Part I
(8) This section shall have effect subject to the provisions of the Schedule to this Act in relation to a child who is in the care of a local authority or voluntary organisation or who is committed to a place of safety or who is the subject of custodianship proceedings or proceedings or an order relating to adoption.
Offence of abduction of child by other persons. 2.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, a person not falling within section 1(2)(a) or (b) above commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, he takes or detains a child under the age of sixteen—
- (a) so as to remove him from the lawful control of any person having lawful control of the child; or
- (b) so as to keep him out of the lawful control of an person entitled to lawful control of the child.
(2) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section, it shall be a defence for that person to show that at the time of the alleged offence—
- (a) he believed that the child had attained the age of sixteen; or
- (b) in the case of an illegitimate child, he had reasonable grounds for believing himself to be the child's father.
Construction of references to taking, sending and detaining. 3. For the purposes of this Part of this Act—
- (a) a person shall be regarded as taking a child if he causes or induces the child to accompany him or any other person or causes the child to be taken;
- (b) a person shall be regarded as sending a child if he causes the child to be sent; and
- (c) a person shall be regarded as detaining a child if he causes the child to be detained or induces the child to remain with him or any other person.
Penalties and prosecutions. 4.—(1) A person guilty of an offence under this Part of this Act shall be liable—
- (a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, as defined in section 74 of the 1982 c. 48.Criminal Justice Act 1982, or to both such imprisonment and fine;
- (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.
(2) No prosecution for an offence under section 1 above shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
