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WANSTEAD: 'Metric martyr' will not pay legal fees

8:40am Tuesday 13th January 2009 in


WANSTEAD 'metric martyr' Janet Devers will not have to pay any legal fees towards her failed prosecution by Hackney Council for selling fruit and veg in pounds and ounces on her market stall.

Last month the Guardian reported that the authority would not proceed as scheduled with their case this January against Ms Devers, of Colbrook Road, in the wake of overwhelming public pressure.

And yesterday at a formal hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Ms Devers was told the taxpayer would foot the bill for her costs incurred by Hackney Council's aborted case.

She was also formally found not guilty of four charges under the Weights and Measures Act, as the authority failed to present any evidence against her.

Ms Devers was previously fined nearly £5,000 after being found guilty under separate counts of breaking the same act back in October.

She is currently appealing the conviction.

Comments(7)

manny mark says...
9:40am Tue 13 Jan 09

What has it cost the taxpayers though?
What a wasted amount of money. I don't like this liberal using words like 'martyr' these days its all too much scarey as well.

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Touchwood says...
9:41am Tue 13 Jan 09

Although this is excellent news it would have been even better had the person(s) in Hackney Council responsible for this whole sorry affair been made to pay the legal costs and not the long suffering tax payers! Lets now hope this lady has the fine refunded.

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Technomist says...
10:12am Tue 13 Jan 09

Janet Devers is be congratulated on her courage and belief in her own convictions for not giving in to the bullies.

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Ferdy50 says...
11:55am Tue 13 Jan 09

I still have no idea why they decided to pick on her for this.

I still prefer to convert it back to pounds & ounces whenever I buy fruit & veg. She was just making it easier for everyone.

It doesnt mention in the article that the EU have told the UK they dont need to enforce these rules anymore. Thats more of a reason that the council gave up then 'public pressure'.

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Stowaway says...
9:01pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Tax payers to foot the bill, surely they 30.48cm the bill?

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Dorotheen Strass says...
10:57pm Thu 15 Jan 09

The rest of the European world, several hundred million people (and yes, we are part of this community) uses metric measures. Metrics is taught in schools today and children are not going to learn the old measurements or the old money anymore so why doesn't this lady just move into the 21st century and get on with it instead of making some kind of stupid stand about what? She could make herself worthwhile by taking a stand against poverty or inequality in our town instead of this trivia.

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Technomist says...
10:54am Fri 16 Jan 09

Dorotheen, a lot of people who are in favour of metrication come out with these arguments. They ignore a numer of things about the reality of the metric system. It is not convenient for many people in their daily lives.

In the countries for which claims are made about being completely metric, in fact local systems run parallel. In France, livres are still commonly used, in China, no-one buys in markets by the Kilo, the official system, they use local words (like Jin or Catty) for a unit which is generally about half that size. School rulers may be marked out in cm, but the world over they are often a foot long, whether they have inches marked on them or not.


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'Metric martyr' Janet Devers, relaxing at home in Wanstead. 'Metric martyr' Janet Devers, relaxing at home in Wanstead.

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