Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 58
1 would not be unusual to have a look at the whole
2 restaurant, because if you were on the front -- if you are
3 in the dining area and there is a fire in the back ups
4 ------
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just restrict yourself to the particular
7 question, please, Mr. Skehel.
8
9 MR. MORRIS: All right, in that paragraph, paragraph (iii) on
10 page 9, you recalled one incident which now seems to be a
11 prevalent practice?
12 A. Yes.
13
14 Q. Why did you not put that in the original statement?
15 A. Because I did not remember at the time. I have thought
16 about it since and a couple of other occasions have
17 occurred to me.
18
19 Q. The next one, this problem of the £87, that was something
20 that Ray Coton told you about, informed you about, is it
21 not?
22 A. I cannot remember who informed me about it. Where are
23 we looking, sorry?
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: At the bottom of page 9.
26 A. Thank you. "Drawn to my attention whilst I was in the
27 restaurant" is -----
28
29 MR. MORRIS: Ray Coton reported it to you?
30 A. It came to my attention whilst I was in the
31 restaurant. I cannot remember if Ray reported it to me or
32 not.
33
34 Q. There is no implication there that Ray Coton had done
35 anything dishonest, is there?
36 A. I do not know. I think that the implication is that
37 Ray mismanaged his safe and was treated lightly under the
38 circumstances.
39
40 Q. Treated lightly?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. Because somebody else lost £87 who was running the shift?
44 A. If Ray Coton has a practice or has systems in his
45 restaurant whereby keys for safes are shared amongst
46 people, then there is a lack of accountability for the
47 contents of that safe. Ray Coton would be accountable for
48 those practices in the restaurant. In fact, he had one of
49 the keys. So, you know, if somebody else -- the confusion
50 arose, I think, at the change over. There was dual
51 management of the safe. For a Store Manager of however
52 many years experience, that is stupid. That is a stupid
53 mistake and he has left himself open. He leaves himself on
54 such an occasion open to suspicion. Of course, I did not
55 actually suspect him, to be honest with you. I did not
56 suspect him, but he left himself open to suspicion, which
57 is a silly position to put himself in, is it not?
58
59 Q. Is it your view at any store where more than one person has
60 access to the keys to the safe would show that the Manager
