Such were the memories that Stephanie, a year later, thought it would be nice to repeat it. This time though it would be shopping and sightseeing with her best friends ... another couple. So it was arranged and Stephanie and her husband, along with the other couple set off in their car for the Channel Tunnel.
They later arrived in Bruges on a wonderful day. They walked round looking at the sites, visiting markets and shops (don't us husbands just love that?), stopping for coffees, a meal and one of the best things ... being able to smoke! Freedom to do what you want and enjoy it without being made to feel a pariah. Life was good and they continued to enjoy the day, laughing and joking as they went.
Towards the end of the day they decided to shop for those things that are cheaper in Belgium ... we call them luxuries :) These include in this particular groups mind amongst other things ... chocolate, wine, beer .... and tobacco! This they bought but decided that they liked the offers on the crossing better for the wine so would wait till then. Stephanie purchased everything on her card as it was easier and they would sort out the finances once they returned home. They loaded the car with all their purchases including the tobacco which worked out at 3.75kg each. They then set off for home. Arriving at Calais they found they were early and were able to take an earlier crossing. They'd be home early ... or so they thought but they hadn't reckoned on the UKBA drones stationed in Calais.
They sailed through French Customs and then onto UKBA Border Control where they showed their passports and were just about to drive on when a female UKBA drone appeared and asked what they had purchased. They replied beer and tobacco. The drone upon hearing the word tobacco had it's automatic tobacco circuit activated and demanded to know how how much tobacco they had.
They replied that altogether it would be 15kg. Drone's circuits did quick calculation ... 15kg divide by 4 = 3.75kg each, another drone circuit activated and this sent the message to drone's 'brain' "Over guidelines! Stop and Search! lnterrogation! Seizure!". Drone then ordered them to go over to shed where they were met by another drone (male version) who asked them why they had come to shed. The group said they had been ordered to come there by the female UKBA drone. Male drone said that they had better come in then.
This is where the fun really began. Fun for the drones that is but not the group. The drones were now in full interrogation, intimidation mode.They ordered Stephanie to unload the boot which she did (the tobacco was not hidden in any shape or form). The group were becoming nervous as the drones became aggressive and barked questions at them. Politeness is not programmed into these type of drones ... as isn't integrity, honesty or intelligence.The group were then seperated up to be individually
Stephanie says that the drone that questioned her was not that bad really. Stephanie gave the correct answers, did not lie or try to hide anything. Why shoould she, she and her group had done nothing wrong. Stephanies friend, Lisa, however was interrogated by the female drone that initially stopped them at Border Control. The female drone took the interrogation further. Along with the intimidation
The drones then went into their collective communication mode and the decision was made to confiscate the tobacco (in reality, made at Border Control one can safely assume). Stephanie and her group have never been stopped before and never had anything confiscated so they were completely shocked to the core thast this was happening. They'd heard stories of things like this but thought that they were urban myths. They were about to find out how harsh and real these myths are.
The drones had not finished with them by any means. They ordered Stephanie to empty her newly bought £20,000 car ... THEY WANTED THAT TOO! Stephanie would not do it, the car was specifically chosen and used for her invalid father-in-law who is confined to a wheelchair and for commuting to her and her husband's work. She refused to leave the car, where upon the drones threatened her with arrest. Stephanie rang her solicitor and he advised her to give in (personal note:- l'm not impressed with solicitors who deal with the UKBA and neither was David F here who represented himself. I once contacted many solicitors for advice on a case. Not only was their advice totally useless but they wanted a fortune off me for giving said advice. My reply was the same as the one in Arkell v Pressdram)
Dejectedly, the group emptied the car of their personal belongings and a van was supplied to drop them off at the Tunnel terminal. The van is not drone operated and so the van driver told them that this type of thing was happening more and more. So much so that it seems that this van driver is contracted and paid for by the drone collective ... he makes his living from it!
Once back in UK, Stephanie and her group had to get a taxi home as by now it was so late that the buses and trains had stopped. lt cost them another £150. Stephanie still does not have her car back, both her and her husband have no transport to their places of work (60 mile round trip) and her father-in-law is now totally housebound.
She has appealed but has been refused (surprise, surprise) and further costs have ensued because she used a solicitor .... who charged her £1000! Stephanie is fighting on but is finding it exteremely hard. She's also tried to get the MSM involved, her MP, MEP and even written to Camerloon. She is also still having to make the monthly payments on the car too.
...............................................
l wish Stephanie well and we have offered any help we can. These are hard working, law abiding people and it totally disgusts me how they have been treat. Everyday this happens to the same sort of person but to the MSM and their ilk 'it isn't a problem' .
l'm ashamed of my country!
l know the UKBA read this site, well here's a message from me to them ....
.
'You disgust me, you're corrupt to the core and we'll fight and expose you to our last breath!
....................................................................
Note:- it seems the drones even ignore there own directives where it states and l quote :-
"Where a vehicle has been used to carry excise goods from another member state that are not for own use, but instead are intended to be sold to others on a reimbursement basis, then provided there are no aggravating circumstances and it is the first offence, Officers are instructed not to seize the vehicle but to warn the driver and owner that it is liable to forfeiture."
Taken from here <<< link fixed
WTF! just over the guidelines, first time ever stopped and they nick a 20k motor! lf them bastards tried to nick my wheels l'd spill some blood and it wouldn't be mine!
ReplyDeleteThieving cnuts, bet one of them fancied the car so took it
ReplyDeleteSimon, are you reading this? Hang your head in shame Mr 'Not An Issue'.
ReplyDelete"They ordered Stephanie to empty her newly bought £20,000 car ... "
Stephanie obviously didn't read your advice. Not to blame the victim of course but only an idiot (ie someone who still believes in the supposed british Sense of Fair Play and that our officials are honest) takes their own car.
Whats the extra duty on 15kg? a grand? two? and they seize a 20k car? FFS thats obscene.
ReplyDeleteI can't think coherent thoughts on this just yet - I'm boiling with fucking anger!
ReplyDeleteWhat heartless scumbags, to take her car away which was specially chosen for her father-in-law who is confined to a wheelchair.
What stinking rotten bastards!
Blood sucking leeches! Gestapo!
ReplyDeleteSH, linky to the directive (very bottom of article) doesn't seem to work.
ReplyDelete..but then again neither does the directive itself nor the UKBA.
Is it too early in the day to drop the c-bomb? No? Good.
ReplyDeleteCunts. Despicable, peck sniffing, rat faced, wombat felching, spunk gargling, killjoy, wowser, authoritarian fucking cunts.
And by what you've said SH there was no grounds or power for confiscation of the car - we already know everyone's guilty until proven innocent as far as the baccy goes - so I'd suggest thieving cunts as well. I hope the group made a note of the mileage before the goon squad took it.
Fuck's sake, it's worse than dealing with third world border guards. At least you know that they just hassle you and abuse their power until you bribe them to pack it in. UKBA just seem to get a hard on for bullying and confiscating other people's stuff.
"Blood sucking leeches! Gestapo!"
ReplyDeleteFor once the Nazi analogy is apt [quote from Wiki, my italics]:"
The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate WITHOUT JUDICIAL OVERSIGHT. The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws...The SS officer Werner Best, onetime head of legal affairs in the Gestapo,[7] summed up this policy by saying, "AS LONG AS THE POLICE CARRIES OUT THE WILL OF THE LEADERSHIP, IT IS ACTING LEGALLY."
here here
ReplyDeleteThis case demonstrates anti-tobacco's dictatorial Naziesque character as much or even more than the Nick Hogan case of a year ago. And MSM won't touch it - right.
ReplyDeleteStephanie was not an idiot just an innocent victim, she thought people were allowed to go on day trips and visit other countries, how wrong she was !
ReplyDeleteIs this what they call justice in UK? It's not only Customs that is corrupt it's evertbody who covers this up or stays mute. That female officer was and is a bitch.
ReplyDeleteThe duty on what they claim was over was £97 per person !!!!!
ReplyDeleteGoonies have no bottle and so choose their victims. We went to Holland last year. 27 Harleys and the goonies came nowhere near us
ReplyDeleteThe UKBA, our politicians and our Judiciary should all be thoroughly ashamed. The rules are clear, there is NO limit for personal use OR as gifts for family. (Note no money must change hands) the guidelines are only guidelines.
ReplyDeleteThis is persecution and revenue generation of the most vile kind. This Cuntry makes me sick, I am utterly ashamed to be British / European.
SH, any idea what the 'reasons' given for the seizure was?
ReplyDeleteThe usual l'm afraid SBC. Take 4 people who are already nervous at being stopped/searched and then suddenly face pre-interrogation time honoured tactics to further intimidate and frighten said 4 people. This is further enhanced as the individuals are not expecting to be treat this way by officers of the Crown.
ReplyDeleteSeperate the 4 individuals and begin intense interrogation with the aim of confusing them and making them guess answers ... especially answers that refer to the other 3. Surprise, surprise the answers contradict each other. Result! reason for seizure!
Stephanie and her husband and friends fell foul of trusting the uniform of an officer of the Crown. This is very understandable as the only officer of the Crown they have usually ever come into contact with before is a policeman. They assume that both have the same standards only to find out that the UKBA don't come anywhere near the standards of the police. Unfortunately they find this out too late.
"Goonies have no bottle and so choose their victims. We went to Holland last year. 27 Harleys and the goonies came nowhere near us"-Prop
ReplyDeleteNote To Self: Remember to pack my "IRA UNDEFEATED ARMY" T-shirt, camo jacket and dark sunglasses.
SBC ... and a Harley? :)
ReplyDeleteLOL NO! Bikes scare me shitless. At the risk of ruining my carefully cultivated Internet Hard Man image; I once rode pillion on a 50 cc and after a few streets the girl driving had to stop cos I was shaking so badly with F E A R that it threatened to tip the bike.
ReplyDelete250 Kmh on the autobahn with my knees on the wheel rolling a smoke? Sure. no sweat. but just sitting on a stationary bike means I need to change my strides.
:(
*can hear prop laughing halfways across the country*
SBC ... another reason for the seizure was UKBA said tobacco only has a shelf life of a year. The tobacco in question was GV. I know for a fact that if stored correctly it will last for years. You can also restore tobacco that has gone dry. The Virginia brands are long lasting anyway.
ReplyDelete"tobacco only has a shelf life of a year."
ReplyDeleteNot according to Mr Sked who apparently thinks that tobacco perishes after just two months!
However kept properly, tobacco won't just keep for years but decades (what part of 'cured' do the UKBA not understand??!). Even if it dries out it can, as you rightly point out, be easily re-hydrated.
Found this "The minimum length of time that you will notice any significant benefit of aging is 6 - 12 months. Your aging pipe tobacco will really start to improve at the 18 month mark and approach the sublime at about 36. After 36 months the aging process will slow a bit but will continue. We have found properly stored pipe tobacco as old as 30 years that is absolutely extraordinary. There is no such thing as over aging pipe tobacco as long as the tobacco is stored properly."
ReplyDeleteWhich is about aging (ie storing) pipe tobacco but its no different for GV.
http://vegassmokes.com/pipe-smoking-tips.htm
Next time I go across/under the channel, I ain't coming back ;-]
ReplyDeleteTobacco has a shelf life of 40 yrs.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pissed off.
ReplyDeleteThere's so much righteous indignation about crime and anti-social behaviour these days, most of it given plenty of exposure in the Main-Stream Media, but the UKBA are public servants operating like highwaymen.
Solicitors know nothing about all of this, so if you ask them for help they will happily take lots more of your money, to help you lose.
And the "Voice of the Smoker"? Well, it's not really a problem, you know? (Hawk, spit.)
We rant and rave, and some of us can look after ourselves. But meanwhile, decent ordinary people are mugged by tax-payer funded "respectable" uniformed thugs in the name of the law.
It's sickening.
Spread the word and get people to wise up. Anyone you know, meet, who's bringing baccy back tell them to get themselves sorted. SH and Zaphod torment the goonies to death and still keep their baccy. We got to follow their lead. l bet these two are infamous now in goonie circles! Kudos to SH and Zaphod.
ReplyDeleteThis 'Not an issue' by our self-appointed peers is bugging me now. UKBA Highwaymen don't give exact figures, they just glibbly say they seize over 5000 cars a year. An MP pressed them on exact figures and they said they can't do it because it would be too expensive. 'Not an issue'? ... it bloody is for 1000's of victims of these Highwaymen!!! ... and then along come solicitors who rob you again! £200+ an hour! FFS! ... and for what? Majority dont know what they are even talking about!
ReplyDeleterant over (sort of)
TJ ... Yes, tell everyone!
Babylon got facts an' facts, an' t'ings an t'ings: dem's all a lotta fockin' bullshit. Hear me! Dere is no truth but de one truth, an' that is the truth of Jah Rastafari. In the beginning there was the word. The word was Jah. The word is in I, Jah is in I. I make what is good, better, and what is better, best. I follow this in every aspect of life. Fight da fockin' Babylon!
ReplyDeleteRespect, SH
If I ever win the lottery then I'd pay SH/Zaphod to produce and hand out glossy "BE PREPARED. DON'T BUY TOBACCO IF YOU ARE IN YOUR OWN CAR" leaflets on the ferries and in Adinkerke etc and to have a cell phone 'hot line' so instead of the Stephanies of this world phoning a lawyer they could talk to someone who actually knows what they are talking about.
ReplyDeleteTHAT's what Simon Quisling 'Not A Issue' should be doing...among other things.
Yabba Sata ... Rastafari? :) Must be our first here. Welcome
ReplyDeleteGonna be a real bummer (and loss to The Cause) if Patsy stops blogging :(
ReplyDelete*is sad and even the thought of a double end of season episode of Supernatural can't cheer him up*
CaaAAAAarry on my wayward son...
SH, last night Youngest went to the cinema. After an hour or so of watching a 3D Johnny Depp prancing around waving a sword, youngest felt the need for a cigarette.
ReplyDeleteSo he got out his E-Cig and started 'smoking'.
He recounts that almost instantly a torch was shone in his face and someone DEMANDED he put out his cigarette.
Youngest calmly and reasonably politely explained that it wasn't a cigarette. This short circuited the Cinema-Drone's neural pathways and it left him alone.
Coming out of the theatre into the foyer afterwards he, Youngest, once again 'lit up' his E-Cig.
I'll quote him directly: "You should have seen it Dad, everyone around me was all like 'OMG HE IS SMOKING IN A CINEMA!!' Like they was all gonna die of fucken secondhand cancer like, innit?"
How badly indoctrinated is the youth of this country and how long will it be before 'vaping' is banned here too? For the sake of the children, of course.
Good for him!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of our recent trip to Poland. At Donc Airport l was using my e-cig. About 12ft away was a couple in their fifties. As soon as l started using it they said something to each other. He was of the type that tells you to put it out and then gives you a lecture ... that is of course if he deems you weaker than himself. Such as a female, youngsters and so on.
l'd initially caught them saying something to each other from the corner of my eye and then l realised he was staring at me with a look of disdain and contempt. However that was all he was doing ... for before him was not a female or impressionanable youngster. lt was a large framed 6ft plus, shaven-headed, earing (one) wearing 'biker'.
l slowly gave him my full attention and stared directly at him, bringing my e-cig to my lips and 'smoked' it. My stare never wavered as l continued to 'smoke' my e-cig ... slowly and methodically. This in the animal kingdom is what is called is the 'challenge' that we still have in our basic intstincts. He 'broke' and looked away and never made eye contact again. :)
LOL yes, strange how that one works isn't it? The number of times Youngest has said "they woz havin' a right fuckin go at me ... i fuckin stood up innit"
ReplyDelete(Youngest is a whisker under 6ft and has inherited the paternal PISSED OFFNESS)
^ should have read '...THEN I fuckin stood up'....youngest has also inherited my language skills it seems.
ReplyDeletePlease do excuse my ignorance here, you may well already be doing what I am going to suggest.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your Blog and the comments, but I found you by accident (can't remember how).
Stories such as this make my blood boil just as much as the rest of you (and make me want to go out for a cig). In order to get the "mainstream" attention though,would it not be better to cross post to FartBook and Twatter? After all, that is where the laziest "journalists" hang out looking for a so called story.
Also one of those worthless petiton to the PM on the gubinment web site calling for a reining in of these abuses - probably wouldn't get far but combined with the other two outlets it cold garner some support.
There is also a case for petitioning the World Trade Organisation and the European Parliament as government sponsored actions such as this are protectionism (protecting government revenues), Restriction on trade (telling tobacco companies how much they can export) it also impacts on jobs in tobacco factories in the UK and if they bring in a reduction to their "guidelines" it will impact on the coach companies that take day trippers to Belgium. More job losses.
Sorry to rant on and please feel free to disect my arguments at will. 8-)
Could anyone please give me some advice on the best Eastern European country to go to for ciggies, any advice on ciggie prices, hotels, flights. I would love to be able to pay SH to go for me unfortunatly I cannot afford that.
ReplyDeleteI ask about EE because last month my husband went to Majorca, that's where we've always got our tobacco, but the prices has gone up so much that combined wih flight & hotel it's not worth it. Last September, 200 Superkings was 33 euros, last month 40 euros. Sterling Superkings were 28 Euros, thi time they didn't have them.
It looks like the disgusting piece of filth Caroline Lucas (greens) who has been campaigning in the EU for prices to be harmonised acros Europe is going to get her way, and naturally UK prices will be the harmonised one they take.
I e-mailed her ages ago about this, her reply, well the gist of it, higher prices are good for smokers because smoking is bad.
I think within the nex few years they'll be nowhere t get cheap cigarettes within the EU, contraband and smuggling will be the order of the day.
Any semble of intelligence these people have is over-ridden by greed, corruption & the ned o control.
Joan
Sorry about the missing letters my keyboard is playing up. :)
ReplyDeleteJoan, just e-mail SH and he'll send you all the info you need. All the info is free
ReplyDeleteinfo@nothing2declare.co.uk
Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteJoan
l can recommend Poland and Bulgaria. My own preference being Bulgaria although you'll need our letter in case Builgarian Customs are playing silly buggers. Lambert & Butlers are around £21 for 200, Marlboro around £23. Bulgartia caters for more British brands in my view. Wizzair is our preferred airline ... baggage 32kg. Hotels are easy to get online.
ReplyDeleteIF THE BASTARD CUNTS AT CUNTSTOMS EVER TRY TO STEAL MY PROPERTY , I WILL BURY AN AXE IN THEIR COLLECTIVE HEAD ,AND FUCK THEM ALL WITH A BROKEN BOTTLE .
ReplyDeleteWELL SAID .
DeleteUKBA=UK BASTARD ARSEWIPES. THEY ARE SHABBY-UNIFORMED LOOTERS , THEY ARE LITTLE HITLERS , THEY ARE JOBSWORTH CUNTS , THEY ARE CORRUPT CUNTPIGS . I HOPE THEY ALL BURN TO DEATH IN A FIRE .SLOWLY .
ReplyDelete