Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 52
1 myself sometimes, hence the fact that it might be, I think
2 it was, 11 and a quarter years in the case of Colchester?
3 A. It was.
4
5 Q. From the date of the first entry?
6 A. Yes, as I recall.
7
8 MS. STEEL: Were you also asked about minutes of health and
9 safety meetings?
10 A. I do not think so.
11
12 Q. You do not remember Mr. Nicholson asking you about that?
13 A. No.
14
15 Q. Or anybody else involved in this case?
16
17 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I am not disposed again to accept such a
18 question is a proper question. "Anyone else involved in
19 the case" includes me, Mr. Atkinson and everyone involved
20 in Barlow, Lyde and Gilbert.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. There are good reasons for this. Phrase
23 your question so that it expressly excludes any lawyers.
24
25 MS. STEEL: The only thing with that is that we asked for
26 affidavits to be sworn by Company executives rather than
27 legal people so that we could question them about what
28 enquiries they had made, and in terms of documents other
29 than employment documents that -----
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It was very apparent though, was it not, that
32 whether or not it was a lawyer who swore the affidavit, the
33 lawyer was going to go to someone in the management
34 structure to take it from there? So all you need to do for
35 your purposes is ask Mrs. Barnes whether Mr. Nicholson or
36 any other member of management (is the way I put it myself)
37 has asked about whichever document is you have in mind when
38 you ask the question.
39
40 MS. STEEL: The only thing is, I do not want to get a situation
41 after that where it is said to me: "Why did you not ask
42 about -- for all you know, the solicitors might have made
43 enquiries about it". If our case is that -----
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us deal with that problem if it arises;
46 I have no reason to suppose that it will.
47
48 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, again I am disposed to think it is
49 unlikely anybody would ask questions in any event of
50 Mrs. Barnes about documents which have little, if any,
51 relevance to the issues in this case. I am looking at the
52 last question about "minutes of health and safety
53 meetings", and that is another problem.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That may be so, but I am not going to stop
56 you asking but ask it in the form I have suggested.
57
58 MS. STEEL: I am not entirely sure -----
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The professional privilege rule is in
