ON April 9, 2001, Steven Thoburn was found guilty in a British Court of law of weighing his customers orders on imperial scales - in other words, for using the nation's traditional weights and measures.
It is now a criminal offence to use imperial measures - so Steven Thoburn has a criminal record for selling a pound of bananas.
Judge Morgan's judgement clearly stated " that in passing the 1972 European Communities Act, Parliament surrendered his sovereignty to the European Union".
This statement highlighted how we as a nation have been lied to and deceived by our elected representatives over the past 30 years.
Steven Thoburn and four other "Metric Martyrs" are to mount a legal challenge to this decision to be heard in the Court Of Appeal, London week beginning November19. The other men are:
6 Colin Hunt, a greengrocer from Hackney, has a criminal record for displaying signs in imperial measures i.e. " Pumpkins 50p per pound".
6 Julian Harman, greengrocer, and John Dove, fishmonger, both of Camelford, Cornwall, who now have criminal records for displaying signs which read "Brussels sprouts 39p per pound" and "pollack £2.54 per pound".
6 Peter Collins, greengrocer, Sutton, has lost his street trader's licence, his licence to earn a living, and has effectively been put out of business for selling a bunch of grapes, which were weighed on imperial scales.
In each case there has been a conditional discharge and an order for costs, showing that the establishment are uneasy with this " bad law" but are using the threat of costs to make the traders back down, this perhaps explaining why only small traders and not big organisations or supermarkets have been targeted.
Not for hundreds of years has a court case had such enormous constitutional implications for this country.
Compulsory metrication, which directly and indirectly affects everyone, was never debated before Parliament.
The impending court case will highlight with crystal clarity how much of our Parliament's authority and power has been ceded to a foreign power - the European Union.
NEIL HERRON,
On behalf of The Board Of Trustees of the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund.
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