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The Metric Martyrs are a group of British food sellers and anti-metrication campaigners in the United Kingdom.

The pressure group was formed when several soon to be members were fined for several offences, including not displaying metric signage as well as Imperial, and for using illegal weighing machines. In Thoburn v Sunderland City Council, they fought the fines in a two-year court battle (2000-2002) which they ultimately lost, on the grounds that British law does not prohibit the use of imperial units when selling loose goods, but metric units must be displayed simultaneously. In 2007 the European Union published proposals that would permit the use of imperial measurements alongside, but not instead of metric units to continue indefinitely.¹

Defendants

Steve Thoburn, the main defendant in the case, was convicted of two offences under the Weights and Measures Act of using weighing equipment that was not stamped by a Weights and Measures Inspector.² The stamps had been obliterated because the scales were not capable of weighing in the metric system as well as Imperial, and hence were no longer permitted for commercial use.³ He was initially convicted and given a six month conditional discharge.⁴ Thoburn died of a heart attack in March 2004.⁵

Colin Hunt was convicted of six offences under the Price Marking Order 1999 of failing to display a unit price per kilogram. In addition, he was convicted of four offences under the Prices Act 1974 of delivering a lesser quantity of goods than corresponded with the price charged.

John Dove and Julian Harman, were both convicted of two offences under the Price Marking Order 1999 of failing to display a unit price per kilogram, and of two offences of using a scale that was only capable of weighing in the imperial system.

Peter Collins was not convicted of any criminal offence. He appealed to the magistrates court to have laws on his street trading licence removed. These laws, which all traders are subject to, required him to label his goods in metric quantities with imperial quantities allowed only as optional, and less prominent, supplementary units.

Pardon campaign

Since 2001 EU weights and measures legislation has required the use of metric units for grocery goods, while permitting the use of dual-labelling of goods in both metric and non-metric units. It also provides an exception that permits the exclusive use of imperial units for draft beer, cider, bottled milk and road signs in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, without any fixed deadline.⁶ On 20 January 2005, Ireland changed speed limit signs to km/h.⁷ In 2007, the European Commission announced that it would postpone a 2009 deadline for exclusive metrication indefinitely, due to public pressure⁸ and concerns that phasing out dual-labelling would create a trade barrier with the United States, where dual-labelling is required.⁹

In response to UK media reports that apparently misinterpreted the EU's announcement as an end to the existing requirement for metric labelling of grocery goods, the Metric Martyrs asked for a posthumous pardon for Steve Thoburn, who died after having his last appeal to the EU denied.¹⁰ Despite an early day motion by Philip Davies MP,¹¹¹² the pardon was denied on the grounds that an offence had been committed under the law which was in force at the time. The 2007 EU announcement was not about a change to existing (2001) legal requirements, but rather abandoned plans for a change in 2009.¹³ Moreover, the Office for Criminal Justice Reform claimed that even if the law were to be changed, there would still be no case for a pardon "as citizens are expected to comply with the law as it is at the time".¹⁴

See also

• Metrication in the UK
• Directive 80/181/EEC

References

External links

• Metric Martyrs defence fund
• Pounds and ounces 'in EU victory' BBC
• Article about the Metric Martyrs case
• Metric Martyrs go to European court
• British Weights and Measures Association

Pro-metrication groups online

• UK Metric Association
• US Metric Association
• Metrication.US
• Go Metric!
• Go Metric America
• One Metre: Canada's metrication completion page
• Metrication matters

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 10 November 2008, at 23:41.

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