Commentary on Clauses Section 32: Assault
204.This section provides for assault on an officer of Revenue and Customs to be a criminal offence. The provision applies only when the officer is acting in the course of his duties, so an assault on an off-duty officer would not be an offence under this provision.
205.Subsection (2) provides for the penalty for committing the offence. A person may, upon conviction in England and Wales, be imprisoned for up to 51 weeks, fined (up to £5,000), or both imprisoned and fined. This maximum penalty is, however, subject to the provisions at section 55(6). Where an offence is committed before the provisions of section 281 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 come into force, the maximum sentence for the offence will be 6 months and / or a fine (the Criminal Justice Act provisions increase the maximum sentence for summary only offences, such as this, from 6 months to 51 weeks).
206.Subsection (3) provides for a lower penalty of 6 months for offences committed in Northern Ireland and Scotland to accord with their arrangements for maximum summary penalties.