Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 64
1 photocopied, so, if the Plaintiffs brought the editions of
2 those magazines for the relevant period of distribution,
3 alleged distribution, of the leaflet, to court, then we
4 could check through them and see whether it is, in fact,
5 the case -----
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not personally think that is necessary
8 at all to your case. What you have done is trailed your
9 coat to the effect that, although Mrs. Barnes has said that
10 these matters appeared in the magazines, I have not
11 actually been shown the magazines, and, in all fairness,
12 I ought not to rely on -- this is no dig at Mrs. Barnes'
13 credibility -- I ought not it take that into account unless
14 I have actually been shown the article in the magazine or
15 magazines.
16
17 MS. STEEL: OK, if that is the position, then I will accept it.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Sorry.
20
21 MS. STEEL: If that is the position I will accept that.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is the way I feel at the moment, that
24 without saying I do not accept Mrs. Barnes' evidence,
25 I really cannot rely on what is said to be an article in
26 the magazine when I have not even been shown it.
27
28 MR. RAMPTON: I would not place any reliance upon it. I could
29 not really unless I have shown it to your Lordship . In
30 any event, it is not something which needs have any bearing
31 on Mrs. Barnes' cross-examination, because if it says what
32 she says it says, and it is, in due course, produced to
33 your Lordship, so be it. I dare say your Lordship is not
34 going to decide the health and safety issue on the basis of
35 what McDonald's say in a magazine.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have not seen it, so I do not know what its
38 contents were. I do not know whether crew members (and if
39 they do, what proportion of them) actually read these
40 magazines from cover to cover.
41
42 MR. RAMPTON: I know what I do with my Inns quarterly -----
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Unless they are much more assiduous than the
45 average member of the Bar or solicitor, they probably do
46 not read their trade magazines from cover to cover.
47
48 MS. STEEL: If it is accepted that -----
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think it helps me to go digging into
51 the magazines, at the moment.
52
53 MS. STEEL: It is just they were being relied on but if the
54 position is that -----
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Work on the basis -----
57
58 MR. RAMPTON: I will not rely on them, my Lord, unless I produce
59 them.
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