Day 255 - 23 May 96 - Page 41


     
     1        remember just how much later, or what had passed in
     2        between, it occurs to me that the subsequent meeting -- if
     3        Mr. Nicholson's recollection is merely he went to one more
     4        is correct --  may have been one on the 28th February 1994.
     5
     6   MR. MORRIS:  Which begs the questions what the first one is?
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It has to be right at the beginning, if Mr.
     9        Nicholson's recollection is accurate, because he said he
    10        went to the first meeting.
    11
    12   MS. STEEL:   We do not seem to have any notes of the meeting of
    13        1st February.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, we do not.  But it looks as if the first
    16        meeting -- at the moment we are looking back over two years
    17        now and we have got some documentation.
    18
    19   MR. MORRIS:  The key meeting, the minutes are missing basically.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  It looks as if the first meeting to do
    22        with this may have been on 1st February, and that a
    23        subsequent meeting to which Mr. Nicholson went may well
    24        have been on 28th February 1994.
    25
    26   MR. MORRIS:  So 1st February, which would be the key meeting as
    27        regards the setting out of the introductory speech by Mr.
    28        Nicholson setting out the position of the company, and all
    29        that kind of stuff, just happens to the ones that the
    30        minutes are missing on.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There you are.  Whether that is sinister or
    33        innocent, the fact is it is not there.  The Plaintiffs say
    34        they have not got one by inference, at least, from the fact
    35        that they say they have disclosed all that is relevant.
    36
    37   MR. RAMPTON:  It does not exist.  I mean, having regard to the
    38        terminology of the rest of the material, I just wish it did
    39        exist but it is not there.  That is too bad.
    40
    41   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You have already questioned the President and
    42        Chief Executive, who accepted a responsibility in this
    43        area.  You have now got someone who does not have a
    44        responsibility in this public relations area at all, who
    45        does not have a formal responsibility, certainly in this
    46        area at all, who says he was called in to give some
    47        information to start with and to check a draft later.
    48
    49        What you really have to ask yourself is:  Since you never
    50        need more than one person, although you may find it, you 
    51        never need more than one person to be the nerve centre of a 
    52        Corporation, and since you have at least been able to 
    53        question the one who I would have thought is the very
    54        nearest to the nerve centre, namely the President and Chief
    55        Executive, how much you are going to gain from questioning
    56        Mr. Nicholson who says what actually went out was not
    57        within his area of responsibility?
    58
    59        You may have some point -- I do not want to stop you
    60        outright because you may have some point concerning Mr.

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