The Smoking Action thread

AlanA · 16-09-2007, 02:58 PM

This article was in yesterday's Bolton News -

quote

Smoke rebel’s day in court
By Staff Reporter
REBEL landlord Nick Hogan has appeared before Bolton magistrates to face charges of defying the smoking ban.

Mr Hogan pleaded not guilty to five counts of failing to prevent people from smoking in his pubs and four of obstructing council officers.

The licensee of The Swan and Barristers pubs in Bolton town centre will now face a trial, which will start on November 12.

He said: "I have entered a not guilty plea because I'm not committing any criminal offences. I'm not doing anything wrong.

"We inform everyone who comes into The Swan and Barristers that it is illegal to smoke in our premises."

If Mr Hogan is found guilty, he could face a fine of £16,500 - £2,500 for each of the smoking offences and £1,000 on the obstruction charges.

unquote

In the interests of "investigative journalism", I went along to the Swan last night (for several hours). As usual, the place was packed with smokers defying the ban. Smoking obviously has a bad effect on people, because, by the time i left at 02.30hrs, everyone was talking gobbledygook (including me!).
Looks like we in Bolton will smoke on until November at least !!!!!! Hurray !!!!

Baron von Lotsov · 16-09-2007, 11:57 PM

He needs a serious brief on the case. This is my intuitive opinion. They cost money but sometimes they like to get involved for the reason that it could be an interesting test case and from a brief's point of view their name gets known about and that is all important at the top end of their trade where reputation is everything. If they think they could win it they might lend a hand. I think this is what this landlord should be enquiring about. So he needs to let the human rights experts know and they might even offer a bit of informal advice. I guess it depends on whether they smoke!

Another approach might be to set up a legal fund because if this case is botched then everyone will suffer. You will often find lawyers much more reasonable than the government. This is just the point at where they might be able to conjure up something. You see there are these general principles in law, like if you have no control over something you can't be held to account legally. Obvious when you think about it except the government would rather you not know about these 'technicalities'.

AlanA · 17-09-2007, 07:37 AM

Well Baron, he is, i believe, very much in cahoots with Freedom2choose. He has also vowed to take this matter to the European court of human rights if necessary, so i assume he has got good, skilled people supporting him.

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16-09-2007, 02:58 PM	#31 (permalink)
AlanA Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bolton Posts: 179	This article was in yesterday's Bolton News - quote Smoke rebel’s day in court By Staff Reporter REBEL landlord Nick Hogan has appeared before Bolton magistrates to face charges of defying the smoking ban. Mr Hogan pleaded not guilty to five counts of failing to prevent people from smoking in his pubs and four of obstructing council officers. The licensee of The Swan and Barristers pubs in Bolton town centre will now face a trial, which will start on November 12. He said: "I have entered a not guilty plea because I'm not committing any criminal offences. I'm not doing anything wrong. "We inform everyone who comes into The Swan and Barristers that it is illegal to smoke in our premises." If Mr Hogan is found guilty, he could face a fine of £16,500 - £2,500 for each of the smoking offences and £1,000 on the obstruction charges. unquote In the interests of "investigative journalism", I went along to the Swan last night (for several hours). As usual, the place was packed with smokers defying the ban. Smoking obviously has a bad effect on people, because, by the time i left at 02.30hrs, everyone was talking gobbledygook (including me!). Looks like we in Bolton will smoke on until November at least !!!!!! Hurray !!!!

16-09-2007, 11:57 PM	#32 (permalink)
Baron von Lotsov Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 895	He needs a serious brief on the case. This is my intuitive opinion. They cost money but sometimes they like to get involved for the reason that it could be an interesting test case and from a brief's point of view their name gets known about and that is all important at the top end of their trade where reputation is everything. If they think they could win it they might lend a hand. I think this is what this landlord should be enquiring about. So he needs to let the human rights experts know and they might even offer a bit of informal advice. I guess it depends on whether they smoke! Another approach might be to set up a legal fund because if this case is botched then everyone will suffer. You will often find lawyers much more reasonable than the government. This is just the point at where they might be able to conjure up something. You see there are these general principles in law, like if you have no control over something you can't be held to account legally. Obvious when you think about it except the government would rather you not know about these 'technicalities'.

17-09-2007, 07:37 AM	#33 (permalink)
AlanA Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bolton Posts: 179	Well Baron, he is, i believe, very much in cahoots with Freedom2choose. He has also vowed to take this matter to the European court of human rights if necessary, so i assume he has got good, skilled people supporting him.