46. (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 CCTV to which this Part relates;

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

(c) causes damage to or destroys the CCTV or part thereof;

(d) permits damage to, or the destruction of, the CCTV or part thereof,

for the purpose of making that information, any document derived therefrom or the CCTV or part thereof 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.