Jailed smoking ban martyr-

[gmb45]

-is freed by a mystery crusader's cash


good lad fuuny tho he said he could smoke in his cell, yet the gov said they where banning smoking in prisons, just shows you the gov does just what they want, never ask what the peeps want.




Freedom arrived earlier than expected for smoking ban martyr Nick Hogan yesterday... courtesy of a briefcase full of cash carried by a man in a green Guy Fawkes mask.
Former pub landlord Mr Hogan became the first person to be jailed in connection with the smoking ban when he was sentenced to six months for refusing to pay a fine imposed for flouting the legislation.
His plight inspired a campaign on the internet to raise funds to pay off his outstanding fines.

Nick Hogan smiles as he leaves prison with wife Denise after being released 11 days into a six-month sentence

It reached its climax yesterday (national no-smoking day, no less) when a mysterious blogger called Old Holborn delivered the money to Forest Bank prison in Salford - 11 days into Mr Hogan's sentence.
The arrival of the self-styled ' libertarian vigilante' at the Category B prison in his mask, full black costume and hat left other visitors amused or bewildered.
In the prison car park, Old Holborn, who wore his costume to hide his identity, flipped open the metal case to reveal enough bundles of used fivers and tenners to pay the £8,445.15 needed to secure 43-year-old Mr Hogan's release.

Old Holborn - who says he is named after his mother's birthplace in London rather than the well-known tobacco, told reporters: 'I'm here to free a man in prison under an unjust law.
'I represent the blogospshere and these funds have been donated by more than a thousand people from all over the world.'

Mr Hogan gratefully accepts a cigarette from well wishers as he leaves the prison

Then off he marched into the jail. Mr Hogan walked free one hour and 20 minutes after Old Holborn handed over the cash. There to greet him was his wife Denise, who is also a publican.
Two years ago the married father of two, from Chorley, Lancashire, became the first landlord convicted of breaking the law for allowing his customers to routinely light up in his bars. A judge fined him £3,000 and ordered him to pay £7,236 in costs.
But Mr Hogan, who at one stage ran two pubs in Bolton, refused to pay the fine and was repeatedly hauled back before the courts until he was finally jailed last month at Bolton Crown Court.

Mr Hogan outside his pub The Swan in Bolton, where he organised a 'mass light-up'

The total needed to secure his release was reduced because of the number of days he had served in prison.
Mr Hogan thanked everyone who donated money to free him and said: 'I was devastated to be sent to jail. The smoking ban has cost me my pub, my job and my liberty.
'It's wonderful to know that so many people feel as strongly as I do about the smoking ban and its impact on ordinary working people.'
Lighting up a cigarette, he added: 'Ironically, on my first day in prison I was issued with a packet of tobacco and some cigarette papers - and we could smoke in our cells.'

[patkins]

Hypocritical governments again. One law for the law abiding and another for criminals.

[Meat-Head]

Slightly confused.

So the guy goes to prison, but he can pay his way out?

[gmb45]

have you read it ? he went to prison for non payment of fines, then an anonimous person paid it from an internet campaign

[Meat-Head]

have you read it ? he went to prison for non payment of fines, then an anonimous person paid it from an internet campaign

I'm not that thick thank you!

Just seems stange that's all

[opsmonkey]

why cant smokers get their head around the fact that they stink and don't have the right to poison people..??

if you want to smoke do it in your house / car or in an open place away from buildings...

i doubt a mass 'dig up' by smack-heads would be dealt with so pathetically

[witchy]

Leave the smokers alone I say.

I'd rather have all the drunken smokers INSIDE the pub rather than on the street.

My kids have to walk past these drunken men and women standing in the street, I'd rather they were out of sight.

[Cronus]

This article just proves how ill-thought out the whole smoking ban debacle was.
The smoking ban and the supermarket cut-price-booze has resulted in a lot of pubs closing down,its plain to see.
I think the biggest let down was the fact that the pubs were never given the option of how they wanted to run their business.
There are enough pubs to allow the owner to decide whether they wanted to run their pub as a smoking or non smoking establishment. So long as a pub displays a sign outside pointing out the fact it is a smoking pub then people have a choice. That includes customers and bar staff alike.