1 Power to make orders with respect to property in possession of police. E+W+N.I.
(1)Where any property has come into the possession of the police in connexion [F1with their investigation of a suspected offence] F2... , F3... [F4or section thirty-four of the M1Pawnbrokers Act 1872,] a court of summary jurisdiction may, on application, either by an officer of police or by a claimant of the property, make an order for the delivery of the property to the person appearing to the magistrate or court to be the owner thereof, or, if the owner cannot be ascertained, make such order with respect to the property as to the magistrate or court may seem meet.
(2)An order under this section shall not affect the right of any person to take within six months from the date of the order legal proceedings against any person in possession of property delivered by virtue of the order for the recovery of the property, but on the expiration of those six months the right shall cease.
F5(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Textual Amendments
F1Words substituted (E.W.) by Criminal Justice Act 1972 (c. 71), s. 58 and substituted (N.I.) (19.5.1997) by 1997 c. 30, ss. 4(1), 7(2)
F2Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (c. 43), s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. I
F3Words repealed by Theft Act 1968 (c. 60), Sch. 3 Pt. III
F4Words repealed by Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39), s. 192(3), Sch. 5 Pt. I
F5S. 1(3) repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (c. 43), s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. I
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 1 extended by Public Stores Act 1875 (c. 25), s. 12(2)
C2Reference to police court and metropolitan police magistrate to be construed respectively as reference to a magistrates' court for the inner London area and a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate sitting in a magistrates' court in the same court-house as the chief metropolitan stipendiary magistrate: Administration of Justice Act 1964 (c. 42), Sch. 3 Pt. I paras. 2, 3.
C3S. 1(2) modified (1.12.2020 immediately before the consolidation date (see 2020 c. 9, ss. 3, 5(2)(3) and 2020 c. 17, ss. 2, 416)) by Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Act 2020 (c. 9), s. 5(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 128; S.I. 2012/1236, reg. 2
Marginal Citations