Jim Wright, from Port Talbot in South West Wales, ran a small
business selling natural products. Like many involved in natural
health, Jim wanted to help not only his family and himself, but also
others. Jim's caring nature and concern for the suffering of others
ultimately got him into trouble. In fact, it made him a criminal.
Find out how the UK medicines regulator, in cahoots with the BBC, set
him up. This is an astonishing case about persecution and
prosecution. Yesterday, Jim received his sentence from Swansea's
Crown Court. Jim and his family have been through hell and back, yet
he's not beaten - he's going to appeal.
To download the full press release (which has this morning been
circulated to the entire UK media) as a PDF document, including the
Editor's Notes that provide more details on this important case,
please click the following link:
The text of the release is given below:
Vitamin seller made a criminal
After three years of apparent persecution by the UK medicines
regulator, a Swansea man, Jim Wright, was yesterday criminalised by
the Swansea Crown Court for selling vitamins and herbs.
Jim Wright had operated a small business selling natural health
products for some years before being raided for the first time in May
2003, then again two years later, by the Medicines & Healthcare
products Regulatory Authority (MHRA). During these unannounced dawn
raids, his stock was taken, thus preventing him from running his
business. The vast majority of his stock comprised common garden
herbal products the like of which can legally be bought from high
street health food stores across the UK .
Emerging from the Court room, Wright said, `I think given the wealth
of false evidence that was presented in Court, the whole thing's been
a total farce. Yet in the process they've managed to make me a
criminal. The Judge gave me a £1000 fine, £1000 that I haven't got,
and 120 hours of unpaid community service. I was accused of selling
products that I wasn't selling and we even showed the Court that the
supplier of vitamin B-17, as found in apricot kernels, was itself
shut down by the US Food & Drug Administration on 30th September
2003. They found nothing in two raids on my house. I was set up.'
Wright, like others who had been selling vitamin B-17 up until it was
made illegal in 2002, was made aware of the change in government
policy and withdrew the product from sale. He had always made a point
of complying with any advice or requests by the UK medicines
enforcement agency.
In 2003, the MHRA worked with BBC Wales to entrap Wright. A women and
her partner who, he was told, had a myeloma in the leg that had been
operated on and that had subsequently spread, approached Jim Wright
with a view to buying products that would help the cancer patient.
The couple forced Wright to meet them in a car park on two separate
occasions to deliver a range of natural health products. Wright
thought this a most strange request, yet the customers were adamant
this is how they wanted their products delivered. They filmed him
covertly the first time, but on the second occasion, the cameras were
revealed as he passed over the products. He was devastated to find
the customers were really a BBC reporter and her perfectly healthy
colleague.
Shortly after this, Wright saw himself on the BBC, being made out to
be a criminal, despite the fact the products he was selling were 100%
legal. About one week later, the MHRA raided him, confiscating all of
his stock, and so handicapping his small business operation.
No legal proceedings followed, but Mr Wright's stock was also not
returned even after three requests. The enforcers went peculiarly
quiet on Mr Wright.
Two years later, Wright received an order for vitamin B-17. Unknown
to him, the order was from an MHRA enforcer who, posing as a member
of the public, presented a heart-wrenching story about her husband
dying of prostate cancer. The lady was very specific about her desire
for vitamin B-17, that Wright was well aware had been banned some
years earlier. Wright made it clear that he could no longer sell B-17
and had none in stock. After continuous pressure, however, Wright
succumbed to providing a single pot that he still had in his home
office that had been returned to him by a customer and that he hadn't
yet posted back to the original supplier in Mexico . He was given a
mailing address that happened to be the accommodation address for the
MHRA. On receipt of the product, a warrant was obtained the same day
from Bow Street Magistrates and Wright was raided for a second time,
in May 2005.
Speaking about this second raid, Jim Wright said, `They were hoping
to find a big stash of vitamin B-17 that was what they said they
were after when they barged into my home. They of course found
nothing. So they again took all my stock, all my accounts, a folder
with all of my correspondence with the MHRA and another with thank-
you letters and customer contact details. It was frightening and
deeply disturbing.'
Dr Robert Verkerk, executive director of the Alliance for Natural
Health responded today to Wright's sentencing, `The Swansea Crown
Court Judge took the opportunity to condemn the natural products
industry. He said the manufacturers of these supplements are
exploiting people's misery and making lots of money out of them. Jim
Wright, he said, was a victim, and clearly hadn't made a lot of money
himself.'
Reflecting on the sentencing, Verkerk added, `To prey on someone's
intent to help others to set them up like this is astonishing and
deeply unethical. Jim Wright and his family have been through hell
and back his business has been irreparably damaged, yet no illegal
products were found in either raid. The lack of reasons given during
and after the raids, and the confiscation of legal stock that
included extra virgin olive oil, beggars belief. We are heartened to
hear that Jim Wright and his legal counsel have every intention of
mounting an Appeal.'
It is expected that Jim Wright's Appeal against his prosecution will
be launched within 9 months.
ENDS.
CONTACT
Contact point for all media ( UK and international):
Dr Robert Verkerk or Meleni Aldridge
Alliance for Natural Health
The Atrium, Curtis Road , Dorking RH4 1XA, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1306 646 600
Fax: +44 (0)1306 646 552