Dear All,
Here is the latest contribution from Christopher Booker.
**
Our new 'metric martyr' takes her first stand in court
On Friday afternoon an east London courtroom was packed to see
Britain's latest "metric martyr", Janet Devers, a Hackney market
trader, face 13 criminal charges relating to the sale of fruit and
veg either on non-metric scales or in bowls, without giving the
metric weight of the contents.
Among those present were Leigh Thoburn, the widow of the original
"metric martyr", Steve Thoburn, who was convicted for selling a pound
of bananas in Sunderland in 2000, and Neil Herron, director of the
Metric Martyrs Defence Fund.
The practice of selling produce "by the bowl" was adopted across
London after metrication came in under EU law, because many customers
found kilos confusing. A week earlier, Paul Smith, one of Mrs
Devers's fellow stallholders on the Ridley Road market, faced 18
charges of selling by the bowl.
The chairman of the bench observed that when he recently saw a bowl
of mushrooms being offered at his own local market, he had not
remonstrated with the stallholder for breaking the law - he bought
the mushrooms.
Although he refused to allow Hackney council the £2,000 costs it was
claiming for having brought such an absurdly trivial case, he
regretted that, under the law, he had no alternative to imposing a
token fine on Mr Smith. This means that almost every market stall in
London is now committing scores of similar offences every day.
In light of this ruling Mrs Devers originally planned to plead guilty
to the bowl-related charges, while her lawyers reserved their fire
for those relating to non-metric scales. On this they believe they
have a powerful case, because of the EU Commission's statement that
use of imperial scales made before 2000 is not against EU law.
But when Mrs Devers heard that a conviction might make it impossible
for her and her sister to make a planned trip to New York - US law
does not allow criminals to enter - she decided to fight all the
charges. The court accepted her plea that such an important case
should be put before a jury and it is now to be heard in the Crown
Court on March 7.
Mr Herron reports that, following last week's item, many readers have
already generously offered help, and further contributions can be
made to the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund, PO Box 526, Sunderland SR1
3YS, or by email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
**
You can see it in context at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/20/nbooker120.xml with the above extract
from about half way down.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See
http://www.metricationmatters.com/ for more metrication information,
contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or subscribe to
the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter at http://
www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/
