Day 266 - 20 Jun 96 - Page 61
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2 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, if it should turn out we are in prospect
3 of losing one-and-a-half -- because I do not know if Mr.
4 Clair will go for the whole of Monday, one-and-a-half or
5 two-and-a-half days next week, I have to say I do not know
6 if Miss Tiller will be the whole of Friday either. Mrs.
7 Tiller, I beg your pardon. I would seriously propose -- we
8 have got nobody left. So there is nothing I can do to fill
9 the holes. So we propose if the defendants do not want to
10 call their own witnesses, there is absolutely no reason why
11 they themselves should not start giving evidence next week;
12 one or other of them. I do not know which assuming that
13 they are always going to do that, but I have made that
14 assumption. But that is not something which is affected by
15 the Appeal in the very least because they can go and tell
16 their story about all sorts of other issues.
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18 MR. MORRIS: Have you finished now?
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20 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. I am just anxious not to waste time.
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22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Well, you need not at address me on it
23 because I am very anxious not to lose time and I said that
24 I was not, I did not think case should be held up, pending
25 the hearing of any Appeal or Application for Leave to
26 Appeal because the last thing in the world I wanted was an
27 appeal at some stage in the indefinite future and this
28 trial hanging fire while we waited for that. I will look
29 at Professor Crawford overnight. I very much hope that he
30 can give evidence starting on Tuesday morning anyway, but
31 with the Appeal to be heard only two days away, after we
32 adjourn on the Monday. I do not think it would be right to
33 put you to a decision as to which publication witnesses you
34 call or whether you give evidence yourself until you have
35 had the result of that Appeal. That is assuming that the
36 Court of Appeal gives its judgment straightaway or the
37 following morning. I am sad if we do lose any time. I
38 would hope that we can go ahead with Professor Crawford
39 anyway. It may very much depend upon whether there is
40 something completely new in his report or whether it just
41 glosses on the arguments which are clearly in the forum
42 already.
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44 I am going to read his new report overnight and we can come
45 back to it. We will have to come back to it in any event
46 tomorrow, if Mr. Rampton suggests that he will not be ready
47 for Professor Crawford, but there we are. I am sorry to
48 lose even a day at this stage but I think it is as simple
49 as this. The Appeal bites on the topics in relation to
50 which Miss Lapport and Mr. Gravett would give evidence if
51 they were called and upon which you, at some stage in your
52 evidence, would give evidence if you decided to give
53 evidence yourselves.
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55 MS. STEEL: Yes. I mean just in respect of Professor Crawford
56 even if there is some problem with the new stuff that has
57 come, I do not see that there would be a problem of at
58 least getting on with cross-examination relating to his
59 evidence last time.
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