Day 001 - 28 Jun 94 - Page 62


     
     1   MR. RAMPTON:  It certainly will not take us passed the
              adjournment; maybe an hour an half.  As your Lordship
     2        knows having read his statement, he speaks only in general
              terms. Naturally enough he must give evidence because he
     3        represents the second plaintiff who.
 
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can I tell you what I have in mind, that on
              Thursday we start with Mr. Preston's evidence-in-chief.
     5        We then adjourn, hopefully the remainder of that day will
              be enough for the defendants to get either the bundles in
     6        order or what they need for cross-examining Mr. Preston
              and Mr. Beavers in order.
     7
         MR. RAMPTON:  Mr. Beavers they are hardly in a position to
     8        cross-examine at all, because he gives evidence about
              equal opportunities in America, as I outlined this
     9        morning, in respect of which the defendants have no case.
              So, really there is nothing much they can ask
    10        Mr. Beavers.  I would say this.  He is arriving in this
              country tomorrow and really has to give evidence on
    11        Friday.  So even if Mr. Preston had not finished, I would
              have to ask your Lordship's leave to impose Mr. Beavers so
    12        he can go back to the United States by the weekend.
 
    13   MISS STEEL:  We are not very happy with not being able to sort
              out bundles before Mr. Preston gives evidence.  We will
    14        want to prepare a lot of what we want to cross-examine on
              before we go into court.  I just think it is going to be
    15        much more confusing for us if we have not got our bundles
              in order before we start.
    16
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I am contemplating is this.  You must
    17        know the documents you will need to cross-examine
              Mr. Preston on.
    18
         MISS STEEL:  We do not know all of them at the moment.
    19
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You must know a lot of them already.
    20        Presumably you have to do some fine tuning of that.
              I would not have thought that it would take more than,
    21        say, Thursday afternoon having identified those documents
              which certainly are not all the documents in the bundles,
    22        to find where they are in the new bundles.  Is there any
              benefit in calling -- you want to call Mr. Preston before
    23        Mr. Beavers?
 
    24   MR. RAMPTON:  I do if it is at all possible for obvious
              reasons.  Mr. Preston goes into a much more detailed
    25        account of the company's business across the board.
              Mr. Beavers, though he explain why the first plaintiffs 
    26        brought the action, will confine his factual evidence to 
              the question of equal opportunities in employment and 
    27        (inaudible) to the treatment of black people.
 
    28   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How long will Mr. Beavers take?
 
    29   MR. RAMPTON:  I put him down for a day, but Friday might be a
              short day, there is never any harm in that since we start
    30        recycling and waste on Monday.  I do add this, there is
              now I have discovered because I have been told, a spare

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