Day 107 - 24 Mar 95 - Page 78


     
     1        understand you to say; is that right?
     2        A.  Well, it does specifically refer to salmonella.
     3
     4   Q.   I know, I am not disagreeing with you.  I had not read it
     5        like that myself but, on reflection, I believe you are
     6        probably right.  What I ask you is this:  Why then, given
     7        that both the court and the opposite party need notice of
     8        what criticisms you may have, does this statement contain
     9        nothing of the risks which you have suggested maybe
    10        involved in the sale of beef burgers?
    11        A.  I have to apologise to the court and to you, that
    12        work-load has really prevented me from exploring issues and
    13        focusing my mind on what is basically a charitable input
    14        from myself, having to make time to do this without payment
    15        and without the ability to devote as much time as it
    16        deserves.
    17
    18   Q.   Did you make any notes at the time, Mr. North?
    19        A.  I carried my notebook around and made a few very brief
    20        notes.  It was not in the nature of a detailed inspection;
    21        it could not be under the circumstances.  I would not have
    22        been allowed to do a full inspection in my terms, of what
    23        I would assess to be my terms.
    24
    25   Q.   Finally this, Mr. North, you will recall -- you need not
    26        look at it now unless you want to -- in your first
    27        statement, effectively, you said that there was no evidence
    28        to be found of any pesticide, hormonal or antibiotic
    29        residues in meat consumed by humans, you remember you said
    30        that?  That was in, I think, July 1993, was it not?
    31        A.  That is right.
    32
    33   Q.   You have told us in this court that you have since then, as
    34        it were, revised that statement?
    35        A.  Yes, I have.
    36
    37   Q.   I will not say changed your mind; I say revised the
    38        statement.  When -- this is all I am going to ask about it
    39        at the moment -- did you first come to revise that opinion?
    40        A.  I think it is fair to say quite recently.  I tend to
    41        try to avoid jumping to conclusions.  What I used there
    42        was, I hope, careful wording in saying no evidence for but
    43        also no evidence again -----
    44
    45   Q.   I am not arguing with you about the wording of your
    46        statement, please.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You will probably come back to that on the
    49        next occasion.
    50 
    51   MR. RAMPTON:  I may well do, I may not do.  I just want to know 
    52        when it was, as it were, you saw the light on this road to 
    53        Damascus?
    54        A.  I think not more than a couple of weeks ago when I saw
    55         -- you tend to have half formed views and you work on a
    56        subject trying to avoid forming views.  I saw a report
    57        couple weeks ago on carrots where I discovered that the
    58        Ministry itself was admitting that its procedures were
    59        faulty, and it suddenly revised its periods -- its
    60        procedures and found enormous hitherto unsuspected

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