There has been a fair amount of comment in the blogosphere regarding the six month jail sentence given to Nick Hogan for flouting the ‘no-smoking ban’.
Outrage has been duly expressed, here, there, and everywhere. Perhaps we can do better than just express outrage?
Nick was actually jailed for non-payment of the fine originally imposed for a ‘mass smoke-in’ on the day the ban came into force in 2007 in his pub, the ‘Swan and Barristers’ in Bolton. He no longer has that pub. He was fined again when council inspectors walked into his present pub and discovered a group of customers smoking – Nick wasn’t even on the premises.
His wife, Denise, is now managing their present pub in Chorley herself. Their trade is so low that they don’t even bother to open the downstairs bar. Nick is bankrupt, and had gone to court intending to argue that he could not afford the £500 a month payments demanded by the council towards their £10,000 bill for prosecuting him. He has already paid off £1,600. The court gave him a six month sentence instead, and he is currently in Forest Bank prison in Pendlebury, unable to help to earn the money which would ensure his release.
Denise has not even been able to speak to him since he was sentenced. She has merely been told to phone the prison on Monday to enquire when she might see him. She is confused, frightened, and feeling very lonely.
Denise has just said to me ‘all the people who disagree with the ban – where are they now? – and my Nick is in prison’. Quite.
If all the people who disagree with the no-smoking ban contributed a few coppers, then Nick would be released. If you can’t afford £1, then at least drop Nick a line and let him know he is not forgotten – not surprisingly, he is feeling very depressed.
Denise has no idea how to use the Internet, she has no idea how many of us are against the no-smoking ban. Let’s show her.
£1 each – just 10,000 of you – let’s see if the blogosphere can do more than merely rant in unison. Once the amount received totals the outstanding fine, they have to release Nick.
Nick’s address is:
HMP & YOI Forest Bank
Agecroft Road
Pendlebury
Manchester
M27 8FB
Update: Old Holborn has now kindly set up a Paypal donate function. Go HERE – right at the top of the right hand sidebar and you can contribute to Nick’s costs.
Ms Raccoon lives in the Monbazillac area of South West France, renowned for its fine wines and gourmet food, so she frequently finds better things to do than sit in front of a computer all morning. She is liable to take off traveling at a moment's notice. Consequently this blog only gets updated these days when it is raining - and it doesn't rain very often round here...
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How would this work, Anna? Will he be able to receive letters containing cash? Would it not be better to send the letters to his missus?
Cheques or Postal Orders made out to HM Court Service is best. With Nick Hogan written on the back. I’m trying to work out something with OH at the moment regarding Paypal – near impossible for me to set up from here.
I didn’t suggest cash to Denise – I didn’t want to leave her open to any possible allegations of misusing funds.
Anna – I am trying to get bodies to take part in aprotest sit-in out side of Nick’s jail so that we who are against the smoking ban can serve our “time” with him. I will certainly write to him – tell me where do I send money and
Pat Nurse,
No, Denise asked for his number, and the dumbclucks gave her the phone number – she is going to try to find his prison number on Monday – and when she can speak to him.
I’ve added a donate button at my place
http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/
I’ve added a donate function at my place
Excellent idea.
Donation done. Hope the amount can be raised.
Well done Filthy Engineer!
ive sent him a tenner, and im anti smoking
Well done Pedantic!
You really need Nick’s prison number for sending cheques directly to him – wouldn’t want them to be “lost” in the prison mail system. Anna, can you act as a collection point as I don’t deal with PayPal?
Anthony, I will get you NIck’s prison number tomorrow – and e-mail it to you if you don’t want to deal with Paypal – I am in France which is why I couldn’t set up the Paypal account myself, so not really viable to send anything here
Anna – excellent, thanks. Put me down for
Have used the Paypal link @ Old Holborn’s site, and will pass it to others.
Full marks to OH for setting it up, and to you, Anna, for publicising it.
I’ve just donated a fiver, great to see the blogosphere flexing a bit of collective muscle, well done to Anna too.
At the moment, Nick is a hero. If people pay the fine for him, then they render his heroic efforts useless and pointless.
I live in Bolton. Within a few days after the ban came into force, July 07, I went into The Swan (Nick’s pub). Nick had posters over the bar which said, words to the effect, “It is against the law to smoke here. If you do, then it is at your own risk”. This was not good enough for the powers that be. They required him to, somehow, FORCE, his customers not to smoke. But, needless to say, they did not tell him precisely HOW he was supposed to force his customers not to smoke. Somehow, he had to do it, without, of course, actually using physical force.
With great courage (and despite the fact that there were those people who were saying that he only did it to swell his coffers), he persevered. As I understand it, he persevered for as long as he could, despite being attacked on all sides by landlords, the local authority, the police and everyone else who could attack him. In the end, he was battered into submission.
What really, really surprises me is that the pubcos and the tobacco companies did not rally round and back him up; that they did not finance him to take this question of, “To what extent should he risk his own life in order to force people not to smoke in his premises” to the highest court in the land. Was that because the pubcos believed that their premises would be flooded with non-smokers? Did the Tobacco companies believe that Britain does not matter because they have the rest of the world to go at? Shock horror! Non-smokers are not flooding into pubs and the rest of the world is introducing smoking bans. Perhaps these organisations will start to think and start to take steps. – in fact, there are already signs that the tobacco companies are getting worried (vis, plain packaging).
Now that I have the address to write to, I am going to write to Nick directly tomorrow to express my support for his courageous actions. I have already expressed my abhorrence of his sentence to the prospective conservative candidate for my Bolton constituency in writing.
Let us support him in every way we can, but do not relieve the powers- that-be of their responsibility for sending him to prison in the first place!
Junican, I respect and understand your opening statement, but think Nick has ‘done his bit’ for now and should be freed asap.
l understand your point Junican but lets give him the ‘fighting fund’ and he can decide himself what to do which l think is really what it’s all about … the right to choose.
Personally l hope the fund reaches it’s target very quickly and he comes out. He’ll be wanted by most of the MSM on this and he’ll get a great deal of exposure to put forward his views and beliefs.
Donated.
Cheers Nick!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aCFDXflShE
On second thoughts,
I tried to use the paypal thingy but having filled it in it wouldn’t work. Could you publish Nicks details ie how to send a cheque and Ill gladly donate.
With Best wishes.
jrb
Jeremy – and all others who have asked!
Nick’s prison Number is DN5431, and his address is as above in the article.
I have had to send my own donation by cheque, since I coulnd’t get paypal to work for me either!
Over
Thanks Anna. Cheque in the post today.
Donation just made. Total is now heading well over 5k. Has anybody messaged the US Libertarian websites / blogs ?
Steve, that is a very good idea!
Will contact some of them soon – once I’ve had my tea !
Have had great responses from our American friends in the past.
Ain’t the web amazing? It’s hard to imagine a similar campaign pre-internet, without the quick responses and rapid spread of support. Now, just imagine what might be achieved during the coming election…
I’m so impressed with the unfairness meted out to Nick that I’ve donated and I don’t smoke!
Ed P,
You have no idea how many people who have donated have then said….’and I don’t smoke’.
It is one of the more extraordinary aspects of this entire saga – the support of non-smokers.
” Anna Raccoon – You have no idea how many people who have donated have then said …
Well done Derek!
Freedom to Choose have set up a system for people to send cheques to their Treasurer’s department.
I suggest mark cheques ‘Re Nick Hogan’ on the back, but make them payable to Freedom to Choose.
Send to:
Freedom to Choose (Scotland)
C/o The Dalmeny Bar
297 Leith Walk
Edinburgh
EH6 8SA
If you have any worries, it is hard to see how anyone other than Freedom to Choose could possibly cash your cheque!
What a travesty.
This Canadian non-smoker has just sent 10 pounds via Old Holborn.
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