This appeared in the LA Times back in January. Slightly different spin....
Nat
World Perspective
LAW
'Metric Martyr' Braves Britain's Scales of Justice
Steven Thoburn, the nation's first vendor to face trial for clinging to old
imperial measures, has become a cause celebre for anti-EU crusaders.
MARJORIE MILLER , TIMES STAFF WRITER
Los Angeles Times , Home Edition , Column: A , Page: 5 , Friday January 12,
2001
Foreign Desk
LONDON -- In his 12 years as a fruit and vegetable vendor, no one ever asked
Steven Thoburn for 0.45359237 kilos of bananas--the metric equivalent of a
pound.
That is the point the greengrocer will make in a Sunderland court
beginningMonday, when he becomes Britain's first vendor to go on trial for
selling produce by imperial weights.
Already dubbed the "metric martyr" by anti-Europe crusaders, Thoburn will
also be the cause celebre of Britons opposed towhat they see as the
encroachment of the European Union on British sovereignty and her majesty's
rule.
Under an EU directive, British traders were to have made the switch from
ounces and pounds to grams and kilos by Jan. 1, 2000, bringing them into
conformity with the rest of Europe.
Most supermarkets and grocers complied. But Thoburn, a second-generation
"fruit and veg man" from Sunderland, which is in northeastern England,
refused and was charged with two counts of using illegal measures.
"In or out of Europe, I just want to be left alone to get on with my job and
support my family," Thoburn said in a telephone interview. "I provide a
service to customers, and no one has ever asked me for anything in a metric
rate. If they asked, I would provide it. I have nothing against metric."
But his supporters do. The Sun tabloid and small UK Independence
Party--campaigners against Brussels-based lawmaking--have championed
Thoburn's cause and contributed to his defense. His trial has become a test
case for them and good publicity for the anti-Europe stance of opposition
Conservative Party leaders, who have sent Thoburn their best wishes.
"We have a British act of Parliament that says we can sell in pounds and an
EU directive that says we cannot. If we lose, it means we are governed by a
foreign power," said fishmonger Neil Herron, a friend who is fund-raising
forThoburn.
If Thoburn is breaking the law, Herron said, then so are many other traders
across Britain.
Herron insisted that market vendors are not the only ones clinging to the
old weights and measures: Speed limits are still posted in miles per hour.
McDonald's still sells a quarter-pounder. And when the son of pro-Europe
Prime Minister Tony Blair was born last year, his weight was announced in
pounds and ounces.
Thoburn, a 36-year-old father of two, is admittedly nervous about the trial.
"I've never been a political person," he said.
His encounter with the scales of justice began last April when a trading
standards officer visited his stall in the Southwick market and his nearby
shop, and warned him against using his imperial scales, which weighed only
in pounds.
The EU regulation does not prevent customers from asking for goods in
pounds, but it says the seller must weigh and price goods in metric
measures. Britain's largest supermarket chain, Tesco, has gotten around this
by posting prices in pounds and kilos. Most vendors of loosegoods have
purchased scales that measure in both systems--as Thoburn has done after the
fact.
But despite the initial warning, Thoburn continued to use his imperial
scales for three months until trading standards officers returned with two
police officers and seized them. He was charged and faces afine of up to
$7,500 and six months in jail if convicted.
"We had visited Mr. Thoburn several times and advised him about
metrification," said a spokeswoman for the Sunderland City Council. "He
received several warnings, andit became clear he was intent on flouting the
law. We had no option but toprosecute."
She said that several other traders also have refused to comply with the law
but that the city is waiting for the courts to decide Thoburn's case before
proceeding against them.
Thoburn's lawyer, Michael Shrimpton, will argue that the European
regulations contradict Parliament's 1985 Weights and Measures Act and
therefore are illegal. The British government's position is that a law
passed by Parliament last year requires compliance with the EU directive.
The vendor is worried about the cost of his legal battle, which could spiral
to $375,000 if he loses and has to appeal, possiblyall the way to the
highest court in the House of Lords. But even then, he said, he doubts that
a judge will throw the book at him.
"There would be a little bit of hoopla if they send me to jail," Thoburn
said, adding that hehas received support from customers and strangers alike.
"They say, 'Go on, son, keep it up. We're behind you,' " he said. "I do get
a lump in my throat sometimes."
PHOTO: Greengrocer Steven Thoburn, right, with friend Neil Herron, is to go
on trial Monday. Thoburn was charged with using imperial scales that weighed
only in pounds.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Press Agency
2001 Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
© 2001 Los Angeles Times.
