Michael Shrimpton revisits the case of the metric martyr
More than 10 years have passed since trading standards officers seized a set of imperial scales from Steve Thoburn, a greengrocer trading at a market in Sunderland. The sole objection to the scales was that they were calibrated in the superior imperial system, ie in British weights, not French ones (see “For good measure”, 159 NLJ 7537, P 248).
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The prosecution became front page news throughout the world. A fighting fund was set up. So great was the volume of post that a team of volunteers was needed to open it. The Washington Post even sent its London bureau chief to Sunderland to cover the trial. This was heard before District Judge Bruce Morgan, who was parachuted in.
Three other traders were prosecuted, a greengrocer from Hackney, and a fruiterer and a fishmonger from Cornwall. Another trader, Peter Collins, was told by Sutton Borough Council that he would be deprived of his livelihood unless he stopped serving his
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