Day 270 - 28 Jun 96 - Page 32
1 Tuesday and Wednesday, if needed. Patrick Smith from
2 Nottingham is available for Wednesday as well if
3 Mr. Gravett is not finished, or if he is finished, sorry.
4 Thursday is Ms. Lapporte, Jane Lapporte. Then we will
5 consider whether we intend to call the two other witnesses
6 that we have on publication, Charlie Brooke and Brian
7 Moseley. We may not, in fact, call them. If we have
8 Friday with no witness booked, we were going to ask if we
9 could have that as a preparation day and then start the
10 evidence of Ms. Steel on the Monday.
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: As you are aware, I have been very careful
13 not to put you under any pressure as to whether you
14 actually will give evidence; but that is not to deter you
15 from telling me if you have made a firm decision about it.
16
17 MR. MORRIS: At this stage, we both intend to appear as
18 witnesses.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So, you would follow on straight after
21 Ms. Steel, would you?
22
23 MR. MORRIS: That is correct.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What about time, Mr. Rampton, so far as you
26 are concerned?
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28 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, in what sense, do you mean?
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So far as Mr. Gravett, Mr. Smith and
31 Ms. Lapporte are concerned.
32
33 MR. RAMPTON: That looks to me like an extremely leisurely
34 schedule. It looks to me, with the exception of
35 Mr. Gravett, like a series of half or quarter days.
36 Certainly Mr. Brett and Mr. Smith are very short indeed, I
37 would have said. Mr. Brett may be an hour and Mr. Smith
38 less than that. Mr. Gravett might take the best part of a
39 day.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Gravett might?
42
43 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Gravett might take the best part of a day.
44
45 MS. STEEL: He is not expected to last longer than a day, then?
46
47 MR. RAMPTON: I very much doubt it. I cannot be sure because
48 one never knows in advance. I am very unwilling to give
49 the Defendants the kind of assurances which I never have
50 had from them, for one thing, but it does not look to me at
51 the moment, my Lord, as though Mr. Gravett should go beyond
52 a day. Mr. Smith, as I have said, is very short and
53 Ms. Lapporte might be half a day, I suppose.
54
55 So it looks, as I say, like a pretty leisurely schedule for
56 that week. Your Lordship may feel that that does not
57 matter. If the Defendants are both going to give evidence,
58 then I would still expect that the evidence would finish by
59 Thursday the 18th because, as presently advised, I would
60 not expect to be more than about three days in
