Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 50
1 naturally assumed, I mean, and we were talking to each
2 other over a period of days, communication was, of course,
3 important to ensure that the right course of action was
4 taken. There was no formal sort of request for any report
5 or anything like that.
6
7 Q. Right. The audit adjustments that you found and the clock
8 cards that you found, did you keep them or pass them on to
9 Head Office, the ones you found while you were doing this
10 investigation?
11 A. I cannot recall. I cannot recall at all. You know,
12 I do not know, I think Ray may have retained them.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would much rather -- do not speculate, just
15 tell me what you know.
16 A. I am just concerned that whenever I cannot recall
17 anything it is insinuated as being convenient somehow.
18
19 Q. That is for me to decide. What does not help me (and I
20 have said this to other witnesses in the past) is
21 speculating about what might be the more likely thing to
22 happen?
23 A. OK, thank you.
24
25 Q. And then portraying it as a recollection when it is not.
26 A. Sorry.
27
28 MS. STEEL: You said on page 7 of your statement: "Although it
29 might have been open to me to dismiss all the managers
30 involved, I decided instead to give Sally Spurgeon a final
31 written warning". How would it have been open to you to
32 dismiss all the managers? You did not have any evidence of
33 their involvement, did you?
34 A. OK. What I have said is although it might have been
35 open to me to dismiss all the managers involved, and
36 I think that is one course of action that I considered at
37 the time, but I do not think it was practical and I think
38 it was correct. I think you are correct in what you say;
39 there probably was not enough evidence to do it at the
40 time. But it does say, "although it might have been open
41 to me to dismiss all the managers involved".
42
43 Q. You wanted Ray Coton to get the blame for this incident,
44 did you not, and for him to be dismissed?
45 A. No. I wanted the right course of action to follow.
46
47 Q. You asked Sally Spurgeon to say that it was Ray Coton that
48 had told her to do this, did you not?
49 A. No, totally and utterly inaccurate. (1) I knew, when
50 talking to Sally, God, I mean her name is against these
51 adjustments; if she is not doing it, then who is, was my --
52 would have been my line of questioning to her, and that is
53 as simple as it is and that is what happened. You know, it
54 would not have been unreasonable of me to have said to her,
55 "Was it Ray?" Was it, you know, such and such a person?
56 I do not think that would have been unreasonable. It would
57 have been perfectly reasonable to suspect Ray of this at
58 the time anyway, as in the same context as I put the rest;
59 the rest of the management team as well were as easily
60 under suspicion as Ray.
