12. (1) A person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, knowingly does any of the following:

(a) falsifies, conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of information (including visual or audio information) gathered by a recording device under this Part;

(b) permits the falsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of the information;

(c) causes damage to or destroys a recording device;

(d) permits damage to, or the destruction of, a recording device,

for the purpose of making that information, any document derived therefrom or the recording device unavailable as evidence, shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person who induces, coerces or requests, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, a member of Garda personnel to commit an offence under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

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

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

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