Former Politician Faces Jail For Breaking Smoking Ban

April 20, 2009 - PRLog -- A former politician and businessman faces 47 days in prison after the Northern Ireland Court Service refused to grant him permission to call witnesses at his High Court appeal.

Chris Carter, soon to be the first person jailed in the UK following a breach of the smoking ban, had originally walked into the offices of North Down Borough Council and lit a cigarette on 9 October 2007 to test what he called “the legality of the law”.

Mr Carter stated “We in the UK-wide smoker’s rights movement have now gathered clear evidence to show that this particular law was gained illicitly.  By that I mean that when parliament was discussing the smoking ban, misleading information was given to MPs and information that should have been provided to them was not.”

Mr Carter had intended to call three government ministers and several civil servants in his defence, but his witness requests were refused.  

This would have given him the opportunity to question Shaun Woodward (Parliamentary Under Secretary for State for Northern Ireland), Paul Goggins (Criminal Justice Minister), Michael McGimpsey (Health Minister) and their aides.  These ministers were instrumental in drafting the new draconian legislation introduced in April 2007 in Northern Ireland.

Without being able to question these witnesses, Mr Carter has informed the court that he will not be paying the £1,250 owed in fines and costs as a matter of principal.  May 4th will therefore see Mr Carter, aged 55 and recovering from heart surgery, starting his 47 day stay in prison.

Phil Johnson, Pub and Club Liaison officer for Freedom2Choose states, "This is not justice; this is a disgraceful attempt of a 'cover up' by the government in league with the judiciary."  He further asks the question, "Why are these politicians (and their aides) protected in this way?  Are they suddenly above the law, thus exempt from all judicial proceedings?"

Pro-choice group Freedom2Choose fully supports Chris Carter in his bid to ensure justice prevails.

References:
1   Fuming smoker refuses to pay fine - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/fuming...
2   It’s all going up in smoke - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/gerr...

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