Claim 4abdb29cChecked 09 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“Steve Thoburn from Sunderland got a criminal record for it.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
Steve Thoburn was convicted at Sunderland Magistrates’ Court in April 2001 of breaching weights-and-measures law for selling produce in pounds and ounces, and the High Court later dismissed the appeal. That means he did receive a criminal conviction for the conduct being discussed, so saying he “got a criminal record for it” is substantially accurate, though the precise legal basis was using noncompliant weighing apparatus / breaching the weights-and-measures rules rather than merely uttering or asking for a pound of bananas. (theguardian.com) Sources: The Guardian; Thoburn v Sunderland City Council case report/summary (vLex; Uniset).
From article
Listen, I was a commodity broker, right? We bought and sold copper in US cents per pound or in deutschmarks per tonne. I have absolutely no problem working with both systems – you know, 2.20462 is deeply embedded in my brain. I just happen to think that to criminalise the language of Shakespeare is an appalling thing to do – and actually sums up, really, everything that is wrong with this European entanglement.
You ask [your greengrocer] for a pound of bananas. If he weighs them out and sells them to you, he’ll have broken the law. Steve Thoburn from Sunderland got a criminal record for it and died at the age of 39 because of the hassle. Who needs to live in a country like that?
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