Day 262 - 13 Jun 96 - Page 50
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: By the agencies?
2
3 MR. RAMPTON: By the agencies, straight to Barlow Lyde &
4 Gilbert. That covers the period from the very beginning,
5 2nd October 1989, right through to 20th September 1990.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you can just remind me, it was
8 Mr. Nicholson who gave verbal instructions to the agency.
9
10 MR. RAMPTON: Yes -- at the offices of Barlow Lyde & Gilbert.
11 Mr. Nicholson was there. Whether he spoke the
12 instructions, or it was Mr. Ian Jenkins, the senior
13 partner, who gave instructions, I do not know. But
14 your Lordship has the solicitors' attendance note of that
15 occasion. That probably does not matter one way or the
16 other. But that is how it occurred; that is where the
17 instructions were given. Mr. Nicholson gave an amplified
18 account of those instructions when he gave evidence. But
19 the instructions are, in essence, recorded in an attendance
20 note, and they were: "At least find out, if you can, who is
21 responsible for this leaflet."
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you or Mr. Atkinson have the reference for
24 the attendance note?
25
26 MR. RAMPTON: For the attendance note -----
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Or Mr. Nicholson's evidence -- I remember it
29 -- or both?
30
31 MR. RAMPTON: I do not, I am afraid, have the reference to Mr.
32 Nicholson's evidence, no.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not want to look it up now.
35
36 MR. RAMPTON: Of course, I understand that. My Lord, it is in
37 pink 2, which is a photograph album, and it is at the
38 back. It is tab 15A.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Thank you.
41
42 MR. RAMPTON: I will read the relevant bit. The people at the
43 meeting were Mr. Nicholson -- there were two meetings, one
44 on 29th September, with Mr. Hartley of Kings, and one on
45 4th October, with Mr. Spears of Bishops. The people at the
46 meeting were Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Ian Jenkins, who is now
47 a senior partner of Barlow, Lyde & Gilbert. The material
48 part reads: "Both were instructed to infiltrate
49 London Greenpeace to ascertain as much information as
50 possible about the organisers of the group and, in
51 particular, the people responsible for writing,
52 distributing, publishing and printing defamatory
53 information about McDonald's."
54
55 My Lord, the relevant part of Mr. Nicholson's evidence --
56 because it is by way of summary towards the end of his
57 evidence; there is quite a lot about it, but it would be
58 tedious and a waste of time to go through it all -- is
59 perhaps what he said on 7th June, starting at page 54 at
60 the bottom. He was being cross-examined. Some of the
