Day 245 - 07 May 96 - Page 22
1 A. Well, I can confirm that that paragraph was a mistake.
2
3 Q. And the next sentence: "Despite several subsequent
4 letters, no acknowledgment or reply was ever received and
5 persistent distribution of the leaflet continued".
6
7 That is not true, is it? There were not any subsequent
8 letters even to the one which was about a totally different
9 leaflet?
10 A. I am not sure about that, I am sorry.
11
12 Q. You do not have any evidence in your statement, or that you
13 can put in front of this court, to say you wrote to London
14 Greenpeace on any other occasion, do you?
15 A. No, no I cannot.
16
17 Q. There is nothing in any of the bundles?
18 A. Well, I am not sure. I do not think so.
19
20 Q. You were dealing with this point when you were making your
21 statement in response to the counterclaim, were you not, so
22 if there had been any evidence that you had ever written to
23 the group, you would have at it at your fingertips. You
24 would have found it?
25 A. I am not sure whether I would have or not, but I did
26 not and that is the fact.
27
28 Q. That was put in basically to deceive the media and the
29 public through the media into thinking that you had been
30 extremely patient about this leaflet, that you had tried
31 all manner of ways of trying to settle amicably and to ----
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Why not ----
34
35 MS. STEEL: To negotiate the matter ----
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment. I suggest you put it in
38 two parts: First of all, put the motive, if you wish, and
39 then ask whether that was deceptive, but if you put the
40 deception in the same question as the factual part of it,
41 it may be difficult to answer.
42
43 Ask if it was put in to inform the public that attempts had
44 been made to settle the matter, you express it how you
45 will, and then, depending on the answer, if you wish, ask
46 whether that was quite wrong and then, if you wish, ask
47 whether the Mr. Preston knew that it was wrong.
48
49 MS. STEEL: The purpose of this paragraph, is it fair to say
50 that that was put in with the aim of having people think
51 that you had tried to settle the matter out of court, that
52 you had negotiated, that you had been extremely patient.
53 And that basically you were at the end of your tether
54 having tried so many different things, and that you had no
55 other choice but to take matter to court?
56 A. Well, I did not write the press release, so I cannot
57 tell you what was on the people's minds for sure, but there
58 was certainly no intent to deceive anybody. There is no
59 future in that.
60
