(1) Except as provided by subsections (2) and (3), a constable may retain a thing seized under section 54B until the time when the person from whom it was seized leaves the police station.
(2) A constable may retain a thing seized under section 54B in order to establish its lawful owner, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that it has been obtained in consequence of the commission of an offence.
(3) If a thing seized under section 54B may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence, a constable may retain it—
(a) for use as evidence at a trial for an offence; or
(b) for forensic examination or for investigation in connection with an offence.
(4) Nothing may be retained for either of the purposes mentioned in subsection (3) if a photograph or copy would be sufficient for that purpose.
(5) Nothing in this section affects any power of a court to make an order under section 1 of the Police (Property) Act 1897.
(6) The references in this section to anything seized under section 54B include anything seized by a person to whom paragraph 27A of Schedule 4 to the Police Reform Act 2002 applies.