49.— Section 15 of the Act of 2001, as amended by section 47 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following:

“(1A) A person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, is in possession of any article made or adapted for use in the course of, or in connection with, the commission of an offence referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.”,

and

(b) in subsection (2) (as substituted by section 47 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007) by the substitution for that subsection of the following subsections:

“(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that at the time of the alleged offence the article concerned was not in his or her possession for a purpose specified in that subsection.

(2A) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1A) to prove that the article concerned was not made or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with the commission of an offence referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (1).”.