Day 304 - 22 Nov 96 - Page 30


     
     1        that the leaflet that is appended to the statement is not
     2        the leaflet that was originally attained.  We would say
     3        that it is significant that the report filed soon after the
     4        meeting did not specify which leaflets had been picked up.
     5
     6        We want to make some points generally in relation to
     7        Mr. Russell, about the reliability of his evidence. Bearing
     8        in mind, for example, that he did not seem to be able to
     9        remember when he had last worked for King's Investigation
    10        Bureau, it seems hard to believe that he can remember,
    11        three and a half years after the event, when he is making
    12        his statement, that he picked up a copy of the fact sheet
    13        at that meeting; bearing in mind that that was the only
    14        meeting he had ever attended, so it must have been the only
    15        time he had ever come into contact with that leaflet.  So,
    16        it is not as though it is something that he would be
    17        familiar with.
    18
    19        Another point about that meeting, obviously, is that I was
    20        not present at that meeting and that there was no evidence
    21        at all that Mr. Morris put any leaflets on the table.
    22
    23        So, just in terms of that date, we would say that there is
    24        no evidence which is reliable that the fact sheet was
    25        available and distributed on that date.
    26
    27        Can I just make a further point about the public meetings
    28        in general, or the meetings at Ensley Street.  It was
    29        pointed out by several witnesses that the so-called public
    30        meetings, there was not always public there.
    31
    32        Obviously, on top of the difficulty of knowing whether or
    33        not there was a fact sheet available, bearing in mind the
    34        weakness of the evidence of its availability, there is also
    35        no evidence that if the fact sheet was there, it was picked
    36        up by any member of the public.  For example, there was
    37        reference to the fact that at some of these meetings people
    38        would come along who were kind of loosely involved with the
    39        group and had not been to meetings for a couple of years
    40        or, you know, a few months, or whatever.  So, the
    41        Plaintiffs' witnesses, investigators, do not identify who
    42        was present at the meetings, whether or not they were
    43        people who had involvement with the group or whether or not
    44        they were so-called ordinary members of the public who had
    45        nothing to do with the group.  So, that is just like an
    46        additional point, really.  We would submit that you do not
    47        even get to that stage, because there is no proper evidence
    48        that the fact sheet was available at any of those
    49        meetings.
    50 
    51        I have actually kind of reached a bit of a natural break. 
    52 
    53   MR JUSTICE BELL:  Do you want to break off there?
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:   If you do not mind, yes.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.  10.30 on Monday.
    58
    59                        (The Court Adjourned)
    60

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