Day 245 - 07 May 96 - Page 31


     
     1        first thing this morning.
     2
     3   Q.   I should say it is not disputed that some of the meetings
     4        were public meetings but others were, I do not know, they
     5        were not really public.
     6
     7        The point is, Mr. Preston, that you hired private
     8        investigators to infiltrate the group and take part in the
     9        activities of the group, attend demonstrations, distribute
    10        leaflets, including the leaflet complained of, and that is
    11        the truth of the situation; is it not?
    12        A.  No.  My sole purpose was to find out who was doing this
    13        so I could stop it.
    14
    15   Q.   Right, but in the course of doing that, those private
    16        investigators did infiltrate the group, get involved in its
    17        activity, attend demonstrations, distribute leaflets, et
    18        cetera.  Ignore the et cetera if you do not want to answer
    19        that part?
    20        A.  I do not know what "et cetera" means.
    21
    22   Q.   Ignore the "et cetera"?
    23        A.  The people you are speaking of I have never met, I have
    24        never spoken to.  I gave one instruction, and one
    25        instruction alone, when the project was started and that
    26        was:  Anything and everything that is done is to be legal,
    27        but I want to find out who is at the route of circulation
    28        of this document so I can deal with it and attempt to stop
    29        it.
    30
    31   Q.   You got feedback, did you not, from these private
    32        investigators as to what they were doing at the meetings,
    33        what they had found out, et cetera?
    34        A.  By "you" do you mean "me".
    35
    36   Q.   You, yes?
    37        A.  No.
    38
    39   Q.   You did not?
    40        A.  Never.
    41
    42   Q.   You never got told what they found out or anything?
    43        A.  I have never met them.  I do not know their names.
    44        I do not know anything about them beyond they were there.
    45
    46   Q.   I am not talking about you have met them personally, but
    47        you must have seen reports that they have done?
    48        A.  No.
    49
    50   Q.   You have not? 
    51        A.  I have stayed entirely away from that. 
    52 
    53   Q.   So who was it who was dealing with that then?
    54        A.  The matter was handled by Sid Nicholson.
    55
    56   Q.   OK.  We will have to ask him about that then.  Are you
    57        saying that Mr. Nicholson never told you anything about
    58        what was going on?
    59        A.  I never discussed the matter with Mr. Nicholson.
    60

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