DEATH OF FIRST METRIC REBEL

B R I T I S H W E I G H T S & M E A S U R E S ASSOCIATION

PRESS RELEASE 17 APRIL 2005, LONDON, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DEATH OF FIRST METRIC REBEL

The British Weights and Measures Association regrets to report the death on April 15th of the first metric rebel, Dave Stevens, 60, butcher of Hornchurch, Essex. Dave loved his country and acted with defiance when confronted by those who wish to make us feel like strangers in our own country.

In January 2000, he became the first trader in Britain to receive an infringement notice for selling meat in pounds and ounces; he ignored it with the contempt it deserved. He went to Parliament Square and smashed a metric weighing machine declaring that he would not submit to the European Union regulation which made it a criminal offence to sell goods in customary imperial units.

In June

On June 2nd 2004 Dave Stevens went to 10 Downing Street to present a petition calling on the government to halt prosecutions of traders using pounds and ounces. Accompanying the petition was a pound of bananas, a reference to the pound of bananas famously sold by convicted greengrocer Steve Thoburn in July 2000. Mr Stephens gave the petition personally to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Actually, he did not hand it to Prescott. The bit about Prescott on the website is that Prescott came out the door by co-incidence and Dave asked if he wanted to buy the bananas ... but I guess you can keep the Prescott reference in!

As recently as the January 6th, 2000
Dave marked the fifth anniversary of receiving the first ever metric infringement notice by vowing never to use metric weights. Press, television and dozens of supporters attended his shop to join his celebration of 1,827 days of defiance.

Details of his campaign are described on the BWMA web(http://www.bwmaonline.com/) site in the News Section.

Dave Stevens is survived by his wife Mandy who supported him in his battle to defend our way of life from dictates from Brussels.

The British Weights & Measures Association is a voluntary organisation that campaigns for choice in measures. It supports the Metric Martyrs (contact Neil Herron Tel: 0191 565 7143) persecuted for selling goods in customary units. The Association assists traders who come into conflict with Trading Standards officers enforcing the EU metrication directive.

www.bwmaOnline.com www.metricmartyrs.com
Further information contact Mr. John Gardner,
BWMA Director,
Tel. 07986 007994,
e-mail: bwmax@email.cxom - NB there are no "x" characters in BWMA's email address.The two x characters are added to to prevent it being "grabbed" byelectronic programs that scan the web; when emailing BWMA, please key in theemail address without either "x".

British Weights & Measures Association,
11 Greensleeves Avenue,
Broadstone
Dorset
BH18 8BJ
Tel: (020) 8922 0089 (ans m/c)
Press release issued by David Delaney, BWMA PRO, tel; 01544 267197