Sunday, 28 February 2010

A prisoner of conscience

Bolton pub licensee Nick Hogan has been gaoled for six months for allowing smoking in his pub. “Allowing smoking” – what kind of crime is that? All he was doing was allowing something that was perfectly legal three years ago and which the vast majority of his customers wanted. His wife Denise said:
“Ninety per cent of people who come into my pub want to smoke, even the non-smokers think there should be a choice. These laws are ridiculous.”
Leg-iron deals with this on his blog far more effectively than I could ever hope to do. And Chris Snowdon points out that, even within the context of the law, this was a disproportionate sentence designed to make an example of him.

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3 comments:

  1. Dick Puddlecote28 February 2010 at 18:54

    "All he was doing was allowing something that was perfectly legal three years ago"

    Indeed. In fact, one of the crimes for which he was convicted was on July 1st 2007, so therefore perfectly legal the day before.

    He got six months because he defied the state.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Demon28 February 2010 at 20:22

    Mr PC,
    Presumably you're aware of this, but if not, OH has a donation option to try and pay his fine / spring him here:

    http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2010/02/nick-hogan-jailed-over-no-smoking-ban.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sat In A Pub28 February 2010 at 23:05

    An obvious martyr for your cause, but it's sheer paranoia to think the sentence was "to make an example of him". For one, it gives him a disproportionate importance that he simply does not hold.

    ReplyDelete

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