CANNABIS
CANDIDATE GUILTY OF MOTORING OFFENCE
Source: Eastern Daily press, Norfolk, UK
Pub date: Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Subj: Candidate guilty of motoring offence
Author: Tom Smithard
Cited: Legalise Cannabis Alliance http://www.lca-uk.org/
One General Election candidate's campaign got off to a bad
start today, when a court convicted him of flouting motoring laws.
Yarmouth candidate Michael Skipper, one of two representing
the Legalise Cannabis Alliance in this region, was found guilty less than 24
hours after nominations closed.
But despite the setback, party bosses said they would not be
dumping him and Skipper sought to work the guilty verdict to his advantage.
Yarmouth magistrates took 20 minutes to find Skipper, 59, of
St George's Road, Yarmouth, guilty of unlawful waiting following a morning-long
trial.
The court heard from traffic warden Paul Johnson, who said
he had placed a ticket on Skipper's car parked on a double-yellow line last
November 9.
Skipper denied the charge, stating the line was not clear
and visible. He said the fact the borough council had recently removed 'no
parking' posts meant residents were unsure whether they could park there.
Magistrates fined him the £30 fixed penalty plus £20 costs,
having been told Skipper had no income after his bar was shut down last June.
The candidate lost the licence for the Gallery Bar,
underneath his flat, following a conviction last April for possessing cannabis
with intent to supply.
An undercover police operation discovered Skipper smoking a
spliff at the bar and customers openly rolling joints, with £5 and £10 wraps of
cannabis on sale beside crisps and pickled onions.
Outside court today, Skipper said his latest conviction
would not be a setback to his General Election campaign.
He said: “The legalisation of cannabis is part of the wider
issue of dealing with poverty, solving the problems of the worst-off in this
community.
“I think they'll appreciate me standing up to the borough
council, who are victimising people who cannot afford to pay by giving them
parking tickets for no reason.”