Section 269 — Defence of due diligence
Extent: E+W+S+N.I.
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) It is a defence for a person (“the defendant”) charged with an offence under section 268(1) to prove—
(a) that the commission of the offence was due to—
(i) the act or omission of another person, or
(ii) reliance on information given by another person, and
(b) that the defendant took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of such an offence by the defendant or any other person under the defendant’s control.
(2) A defendant is not entitled to rely on the defence provided by subsection (1) without the permission of the court unless—
(a) the defendant has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information as was then in the defendant’s possession identifying, or assisting in the identification of, the other person, and
(b) the notice is served on the prosecutor at least seven clear days before the hearing of the proceedings or, in Scotland, at least seven clear days before the trial diet.