Day 248 - 13 May 96 - Page 55
1 to what those leaflets that have been distributed were
2 saying, because, as we can see it, is a different leaflet,
3 in different wording, in different headings.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think this is all argument in due course.
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: What matters is what perceptions, because
8 Mr. Preston is here, to give the reasons why his own press
9 releases were distributed and what his motives were,
10 whether good or bad. What matters is what Mr. Preston
11 perceived to be the intentions of the Defendants and their
12 agents from reading their own material. What the true
13 facts were we will have to wait and see. I am not disposed
14 to attend Mr. Morris.
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not -- I thought in the last few minutes
17 we were looking into Mr. Preston's motives for putting out
18 public material in the months up to the trial, long after
19 the proceedings had been started, on the basis of the
20 actual leaflet complained of.
21
22 MR. MORRIS: Right.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is what Mr. Rampton, I think, is asking
25 questions about in re-examination.
26
27 MS. STEEL: When he talked about the leaflets available from
28 Veggies and the 25,000 leaflets available and he said that
29 he said something about this being some kind of a threat,
30 the leaflets that are referred to in those documents are
31 not the fact sheets which is the subject of the libel
32 action.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you give evidence by all means canvass
35 that in the evidence, or if you do not give evidence on
36 that point then point me to the evidence which supports
37 that.
38
39 MS. STEEL: But I think the point is that when the Company is
40 saying that one of the reasons for putting out this leaflet
41 was because McLibel Support Campaign, Veggies, whoever, was
42 distributing lies, he is referring to, he can only be
43 referring to, the short leaflets because they are the only
44 ones there is any evidence of distribution.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you want to put that to Mr. Rampton now,
47 which leaflets did he think the McLibel Support Campaign
48 literature was referring to.
49
50 MR. MORRIS: Right. Can I just have a...
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
53
54 MS. STEEL: The leaflet. When Mr. Rampton referred you to
55 those documents, about 250,000 or 25,000 leaflets being
56 available and leaflets being available from Veggies, and do
57 you consider that those are lies, what leaflets did you
58 think that those press releases were referring to?
59 A. I thought they were related to the leaflets in
60 question.
