Day 258 - 07 Jun 96 - Page 49
1 got involved in the anti-poll tax, but that had nothing at
2 all to do with me. I got it before then.
3
4 Q. Just pause a moment, please. In case anyone in the future
5 wants to look it up it is day 45, page 49, line 9,
6 Mr. Preston line 10, "The greatest catalyst for me in going
7 forward were the Aims and Objectives of the organisation
8 published by yourselves". I do not want to look back to
9 see whether "going forward" meant going forward with an
10 inquiry or going forward with the action, but that is the
11 reference. Day 245, page 49.
12
13 MS. STEEL: Right.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is the one I had in mind.
16
17 MS. STEEL: Presumably, if you had got a copy of this leaflet
18 you would have kept it and not thrown it away?
19 A. Yes, I remember talking to Paul Preston about it.
20
21 Q. So, in theory at least, it should be in one of the bundles?
22 A. Along with many other documents, which do appear there.
23
24 Q. So far as I am aware it is not in there. Just on that
25 point, you said one of the other things about you deciding
26 to take action was that you had spoken to members of the
27 Special Branch, and -- well, the occasion you told us about
28 was September 1989. You said that you, or you and
29 Mr. Preston, decided to take action by hiring inquiry
30 agents, the decision was made some time in June or July.
31 So, that means that prior to June or July you had meetings
32 with Special Branch?
33 A. No, no.
34
35 Q. No?
36 A. No, the only meeting I have had -- the only private
37 meeting I had with Special Branch was about a month before
38 the demonstration at Head Office. I met a Special Branch
39 officer on that day, and that is the only contact I have
40 had in so far as London Greenpeace is concerned with
41 Special Branch.
42
43 Q. What you said previously about information that you had
44 received from Special Branch being an influence in your
45 decision to hire inquiry agents to investigate the group is
46 incorrect?
47 A. If I said that I was mistaken. The first time I spoke
48 to Special Branch was a month before when I had already
49 made the decision how I was going to carry out this
50 operation.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: A month before what?
53 A. The demonstration outside of Head Office, my Lord.
54 I may very well have received information from Special
55 Branch about activities from you, but it has not
56 registered. You know, I cannot bring them to mind. I have
57 met with Special Branch about -----
58
59 MS. STEEL: When you say "activities from you," you are talking
60 about----
