Dear Mr Brown,
With reference to the custodial sentence placed on Mr Nick Hogan, a link to one of the national media headlines has been added for your perusalhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254126/Pub-
There are many who are most concerned at the imprisonment of Mr Nick Hogan courtesy of Bolton Crown Court on friday 26th Feb, 2010 for non payment of fines and costs incurred in relation to smokeban law infringements. The total costs involved amount to a sum of £10,236. We feel that this may, in part, be due to vastly inflated fines for minor infringements and Bolton Council claiming the unbelievable sum of £7,236 in 'costs'. Could these costs be viewed as excessive, especially considering the current economic climate and the undeniable decline in the pub trade, of which Mr Hogan was a part?
Mr Hogan was imprisoned for 6 months for non payment, yet a violent female in Brighton was only gaoled for 2 months...
A Dungiven man was imprisoned for 3 months for serious sexual abuse...
A Merseyside teenager jailed for four months for 'despicable and
horrendous' animal cruelty...
and a criminal found guilty of child battering and abuse was only gaoled for 6 months...
All four instances have shown extreme violence toward others, including
animals, yet none of the cited cases have anything to do with money or peaceable objection to a law that is blatantly wrong. Is it right or just that crimes of such a horrendous nature as portrayed above should receive less of a custodial sentence than Mr Hogan?
Mr Nick Hogan has merely 'stood up' for his rights as a businessman and the dignity and rights of his fellow man by allowing them to smoke in his pub. Only a heartless coward would send the elderly and infirm out into the wet or cold to enjoy that which has been enjoyed for hundreds of years and made our public houses the great places they used to be!
As a businessman he has rights regarding his property. The smokeban law, which is failing abysmally, has removed that very basic right of determining how he runs his own business. Not only that but the system has now created a criminal, who now has a prison record for doing what any sane and sensible businessman would do-look after his customers.
We respectfully request that he be released from this custodial sentence with immediate effect and a more suitable punishment be substituted, for he is not a criminal - unlike the cases cited above. The system, since 1st July, 2007, has created a new 'cash cow' for your government; they are called smokers! But, Mr Brown, smokers have rights and more importantly, smokers are voters-12 million of them. This action of imprisoning Mr Hogan for 6 months shows that the system now thinks more of money than human misery and businesses.
You will note that I have copied in the SUN Newspaper as I am hopeful that they will be happy to pick up on this abomination of injustice.
Yours sincerely
Phil Johnson
Chairman
freedom2choose.info