166. (1) A person who, or any director of a body or association which, during the electoral period or election campaign period with the intention of influencing the results of an election or referendum, or of interfering with the fairness or integrity of that election or referendum, makes or publishes—

(a) a false statement of the withdrawal of a candidate for election from that election,

(b) a false statement of fact (including but not limited to a statement of misinformation) with the intention of causing one or more voters to abstain from voting in the election or referendum, or

(c) a statement, online, that purports to be from another person,

shall be guilty of an offence, unless that person can show that he or she had reasonable grounds for believing and did believe that the statement was true.

(2) A person found guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.