A court has accepted a 60-year-old man’s attempt to invoke the ancient right to trial by combat, rather than pay a £1250 fine for not paying his TV Licence. Keith Woods remained adamant yesterday that his right to fight a champion nominated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was still valid under European human rights legislation. He said it would have been a “reasonable” way to settle the matter. Magistrates sitting at Manchester Crown Court on Friday had accepted his offer to take on a clerk from the BBC with “samurai swords, Ghurka knives or heavy hammers”. Unfortunately, the BBC’s health and safety policy restricted them in the process of nominating a champion to fight Mr Woods and had to concede the case against him. The BBC also had to bare all the costs of the case and pay Mr Woods compensation for his time spent dealing with the matter. https://linkbeef.com/man-gets-fined-by-bbc-invokes-the-right-to-trial-by-combat-and-wins/ is this a spoof?
Don't y'all pay enough taxes and watch enough damned commercials already? More power to him if it's not a joke! (Thank God the beeb didn't haul Gregor Clegane out to handle Mr. Woods...)
Odd... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1416262/Court-refuses-trial-by-combat.html A court has rejected a 60-year-old man's attempt to invoke the ancient right to trial by combat, rather than pay a £25 fine for a minor motoring offence. Leon Humphreys remained adamant yesterday that his right to fight a champion nominated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) was still valid under European human rights legislation. He said it would have been a "reasonable" way to settle the matter. Magistrates sitting at Bury St Edmunds on Friday had disagreed and instead of accepting his offer to take on a clerk from Swansea with "samurai swords, Ghurka knives or heavy hammers", fined him £200 with £100 costs. Humphreys, an unemployed mechanic, was taken to court after refusing to pay the original £25 fixed penalty for failing to notify the DVLA that his Suzuki motorcycle was off the road. After entering a not guilty plea, he threw down his unconventional challenge. Humphreys, from Bury St Edmunds, said: "I was willing to fight a champion put up by the DVLA, but it would have been a fight to the death."