[No. 50.] Pt.2 S.15 Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001. [2001.] 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. (3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may order that any article for the possession of which he or she was so convicted shall be forfeited and either destroyed or disposed of in such manner as the court may determine. (4) An order under subsection (3) shall not take effect until the ordinary time for instituting an appeal against the conviction or order concerned has expired or, where such an appeal is instituted, until it or any further appeal is finally decided or abandoned or the ordinary time for instituting any further appeal has expired. (5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both. PART 3 Handling, etc. Stolen Property and other Proceeds of Crime Interpretation (Part 3). 16.—(1) In this Part ‘‘principal offender’’, for the purposes of sections 17 and 18, means the person who has stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained the property alleged to have been handled or possessed, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly. (2) For the purposes of this Part, a person is reckless if he or she disregards a substantial risk that the property handled is stolen, and for those purposes ‘‘substantial risk’’ means a risk of such a nature and degree that, having regard to the circumstances in which the person acquired the property and the extent of the information then available to him or her, its disregard involves culpability of a high degree. (3) This Part is without prejudice to section 31 (as substituted by section 21 of this Act) of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994. Handling stolen property. 17.—(1) A person is guilty of handling stolen property if (otherwise than in the course of the stealing) he or she, knowing that the property was stolen or being reckless as to whether it was stolen, dishonestly— (a) receives or arranges to receive it, or (b) undertakes, or assists in, its retention, removal, disposal or realisation by or for the benefit of another person, or arranges to do so. (2) Where a person— (a) receives or arranges to receive property, or (b) undertakes, or assists in, its retention, removal, disposal or realisation by or for the benefit of another person, or arranges to do so, in such circumstances that it is reasonable to conclude that the person either knew that the property was stolen or was reckless as to whether it was stolen, he or she shall be taken for the purposes of this section to have so known or to have been so reckless, unless the 16