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2001-04-10
From CNN before the verdict:
Court to rule on 'Metric Martyr'SUNDERLAND, England -- The first court case brought under European Union legislation governing weights and measures is due to be concluded in the UK. Market trader Steven Thoburn -- dubbed the "Metric Martyr" -- is being prosecuted for selling his goods only in pounds and ounces. His insistence on using imperial-only scales is allegedly in breach of the Weights and Measures Act 1985, which was later amended to bring it into line with new European Union legislation. The new rules, which became effective on January 1, 2000, made it illegal to sell loose products such as vegetables, fruit, cheese and meat by non-metric measures. The hearing is seen as a test case which will shape the future of Britain's weights and measures system and prove whether European legislation takes precedence over British statute. Thoburn, who runs a fruit and vegetable market stall in Sunderland, in north-east England, has become a cause celebre among British opponents of greater integration with Europe. Opposition Conservative Party leader William Hague, campaigning on a pledge to "keep the pound," has backed Thoburn and the many other traders who face prosecution if the verdict goes against him. "I wake up at night in a panic and try and work out how my mates and I could find ourselves persecuted for doing nothing but selling fruit and veg," says Thoburn, who denies two counts of having imperial-only weighing scales. If found guilty, he could be fined up to �5,000 ($7,186). He added: "If the Europhile political parties win the day, then we will be able to speak any obscenity that we like, but the use of words 'pound' and 'ounce' will be deemed liable to deprave and corrupt." Conversion confusionA recent opinion poll showed pro-Europe sentiment was lower in Britain than anywhere else in the 15-nation group, with only 28 percent of Britons believing EU membership was a good thing and 23 percent saying it was bad. The judgment is due to be delivered by District Judge Bruce Morgan at Sunderland Magistrates Court on Monday. Britain began a transition to the metric system in 1965, to more fully enmesh its business and trade practices with those of the European Common Market. It was devised by scientists during the French Revolution in the late 18th century to replace the chaotic collection of units then in use, using the decimal system rather than fractions. The metre was calculated by dividing the distance from the pole to the equator into 10 million parts. The U.S. is now the only industrialised country in the world that does not use the metric system as its predominant system of measurement. In 1999, NASA lost a Mars orbiter which is believed to have burned up in the atmosphere because propulsion engineers failed to convert imperial and metric units. The Associated Press contributed to this report. And after the verdict:
'Metric Martyr' loses historic case
SUNDERLAND, England -- A market trader has been convicted of breaking European weights and measures legislation by selling his fruit in pounds and ounces in the first prosecution of its kind in Britain. Greengrocer Steven Thoburn, 36, of Sunderland, now faces a maximum fine of �1,000 on each of the two offences and court costs estimated to run up to �60,000. He was convicted of breaching the Weights and Measures Act 1985 in a hearing on Monday which district judge Bruce Morgan said centred around the "most famous bunch of bananas in legal history." Thoburn, a father of two, denied the charges, which were brought after trading standards officers from Sunderland City Council raided his market stall in the Southwick area of the city on July 4 last year and seized two sets of scales. He was prosecuted for selling his produce in pounds and ounces. In his ruling, the judge said he was aware that regardless of the verdict the case would be going to appeal. "It has been made clear to me that despite the decision of this court the matter will be taken elsewhere." The case was the first brought under European Union legislation governing weights and measures. Thoburn -- who was dubbed the "Metric Martyr" -- broke the 1985 act, which was later amended to bring it into line with new European Union legislation. The new rules, which became effective on January 1, 2000, made it illegal to sell loose products such as vegetables, fruit, cheese and meat by non-metric measures. The hearing has been seen as a test case which will shape the future of Britain's weights and measures system and prove whether European legislation takes precedence over British statute. A recent opinion poll showed pro-Europe sentiment was lower in Britain than anywhere else in the 15-nation group, with only 28 percent of Britons believing EU membership was a good thing and 23 percent saying it was bad. Britain began a transition to the metric system in 1965, to more fully enmesh its business and trade practices with those of the European Common Market. It was devised by scientists during the French Revolution in the late 18th century to replace the chaotic collection of units then in use, using the decimal system rather than fractions. The metre was calculated by dividing the distance from the pole to the equator into 10 million parts. The U.S. is now the only industrialised country in the world that does not use the metric system as its predominant system of measurement. In 1999, NASA lost a Mars orbiter which is believed to have burned up in the atmosphere because propulsion engineers failed to convert imperial and metric units. The Associated Press contributed to this report. John
Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrt�mlich glaubt
frei zu sein.
There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they
re free!
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
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- [USMA:12120] Thoburn on CNN Headline News johnparkyn
- kilopascal
