# Post Office Act 1953 (repealed), Section 56: Criminal diversion of letters from addressee.

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) If any person not engaged in the business of the Post Office wilfully and maliciously, with intent to injure any other person, either opens or causes to be opened any postal packet which ought to have been delivered to that other person, or does any act or thing whereby the due delivery of the packet to that other person is prevented or impeded, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both
(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to a person who does any act to which this section applies where he is parent, or in the position of parent or guardian, of the person to whom the postal packet is addressed.
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4) In this section the expression “postal packet” means a postal packet which is in course of transmission by post or which has been delivered by post.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/1-2/36/section/56 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/post-office-act-1953-repealed/section-56
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.