Part 7Supplementary and final provisions
Information provisions
236Enforcement of powers to obtain information
(1)
A person commits an offence if he fails to do anything required of him by a notice under section 235.
(2)
In proceedings against a person for an offence under subsection (1) it is a defence that he had a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the notice.
(3)
A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(4)
A person commits an offence if he intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any document which he has been required to produce by a notice under section 235.
(5)
A person who commits an offence under subsection (4) is liable—
(a)
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
(b)
on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
(6)
In this section “document” includes information recorded otherwise than in legible form, and in relation to information so recorded—
(a)
the reference to the production of a document is a reference to the production of a copy of the information in legible form, and
(b)
the reference to suppressing a document includes a reference to destroying the means of reproducing the information.