65.—(1) A person who, when the person is not a prison officer —| (a) | wears or possesses any prison officer uniform, or uses any prison officer insignia —| (i) | for the purpose of personating or representing himself as a prison officer; or | | (ii) | knowing that it is likely to cause any member of the public to believe that he is a prison officer; |
| | (b) | uses the designation of a prison officer or a rank of the Singapore Prison Service, in connection with any business, occupation or employment —| (i) | for the purpose of personating or representing himself as a prison officer; or | | (ii) | knowing that it is likely to cause any member of the public to believe that he is a prison officer; |
| | (c) | represents himself, by word or conduct, to be a prison officer for the purpose of personating or representing himself as a prison officer; or | | (d) | wears or possesses any prison officer uniform, or uses any prison officer insignia, in connection with any business, occupation or employment, for the purpose of falsely claiming, suggesting or implying —| (i) | that the person receives or is to receive, a fee, commission or other reward for providing professional or other services in relation to a matter being dealt with or to be dealt with by the Singapore Prison Service; | | (ii) | that the Singapore Prison Service has agreed to acquire any goods or services provided by or on behalf of the person, or that those goods or services had previously been used or acquired by the Singapore Prison Service; or | | (iii) | that the person has the sponsorship or approval of the Singapore Prison Service for any goods or services provided by or on behalf of the person, |
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| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. |
(2) A prison officer who wears any prison officer uniform or uses any prison officer insignia otherwise than —| (a) | in the course of, and for the purpose of, exercising the functions of a prison officer; or | | (b) | for such other purpose authorised in writing by the Commissioner, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. |
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(3) It is a defence to any prosecution for an offence under subsection (1)(a) or (2) if the accused proves, on a balance of probabilities, that —| (a) | the accused had the express permission of the Commissioner to wear or possess the prison officer uniform or use the prison officer insignia, as the case may be; or | | (b) | the accused wore or possessed the prison officer uniform or used the prison officer insignia (as the case may be) for the purposes of a public entertainment provided in compliance with the Public Entertainments Act (Cap. 257). |
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(4) A person (whether or not a prison officer) who —| (a) | manufactures any prison officer uniform or prison officer insignia otherwise than under an agreement with the Government; | | (b) | sells any prison officer uniform or prison officer insignia to a person who is neither a prison officer nor otherwise authorised or permitted under subsection (3) to wear or possess the prison officer uniform or use the prison officer insignia; or | | (c) | gives or provides, whether or not for a consideration, any prison officer uniform or prison officer insignia to a person who is neither a prison officer nor otherwise authorised or permitted under subsection (3) to wear or possess the prison officer uniform or use the prison officer insignia, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both. |
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(5) It is a defence to any prosecution for an offence under subsection (4) if the accused proves, on a balance of probabilities, that —| (a) | the accused had reasonable grounds to believe and did make reasonable inquiries to ascertain that the person to whom the prison officer uniform or prison officer insignia was sold, given or provided was —| (i) | a prison officer; or | | (ii) | a person otherwise authorised or permitted under subsection (3) to wear or possess the prison officer uniform or use the prison officer insignia; or |
| | (b) | the accused had received from the person to whom the prison officer uniform or prison officer insignia was sold, given or provided, evidence purporting to show that —| (i) | that person was a prison officer or was otherwise authorised or permitted under subsection (3) to wear or possess the prison officer uniform or use the prison officer insignia; and | | (ii) | it was reasonable to and the accused did accept that evidence as correct. |
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| (6) An offence under subsection (1), (2) or (4) is an arrestable offence. |
(7) In this section —“prison officer insignia” means —| (a) | any item (being any insignia, emblem, logo, symbol, representation, device, badge of rank or other thing) that is generally recognised as being used by a prison officer; | | (b) | any part of any such item; | | (c) | any reasonable imitation of any such item, or part of such item; or | | (d) | any insignia, emblem, logo, symbol, representation, device, badge of rank or other thing prescribed as being within this definition; |
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“prison officer uniform” means the uniform of a prison officer, and includes —| (a) | any part of such a uniform or any accoutrement of a prison officer that is generally recognised as a part of the uniform or accoutrement of a prison officer; or | | (b) | any reasonable imitation of such a uniform or accoutrement, or part of a uniform or accoutrement; |
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“sell” includes —| (a) | exchange or let on hire; | | (b) | offer, expose, possess, send, forward or deliver for sale, exchange or hire; or | | (c) | cause, suffer or allow any sale, exchange or hire; |
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“use”, in relation to prison officer insignia, includes —| (a) | driving on a public road a vehicle that has on it any prison officer insignia; and | | (b) | using a reproduction or representation of prison officer insignia, |
| but does not include wearing a prison officer uniform. |
[Act 53 of 2018 wef 13/05/2019] |
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