Day 111 - 30 Mar 95 - Page 38


     
     1        arisen for the first time when I saw a minced making
     2        machine in the morning.  While I was doing my hygiene round
     3        in the morning, I saw a minced machine that had not been
     4        cleaned after the night's work.
     5
     6        I went immediately to the local authority meat inspector,
     7        because he should aware of this sort of operation there.
     8        He said, and so did Les Wilde, the Senior Environmental
     9        Health Officer, they both told me that they had no idea
    10        that this minced meat was being produced in the premises
    11        during the night.
    12
    13   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, 90 per cent of what this witness has told
    14        your Lordship is material of which I have had no notice.
    15        It is not in this statement despite the fact that she was
    16        in court while Mr. Bennett was giving his evidence.  None
    17        of it was put to him, none of it was put to Mr. Jackson,
    18        none of it, indeed, was put to Mr. North, the Defendants'
    19        own witness on food safety matters.
    20
    21        I am not saying she should not go on with her enormously
    22        long answers about matters of which I have had no notice.
    23        I do say, however, that if your Lordship should be
    24        concerned that some of this evidence might be significant,
    25        and I preface it in that way because, obviously, I do not
    26        want to waste time on matters which are really of no
    27        account, but if your Lordship thought any of this
    28        unadvertised important, then I would wish to call evidence
    29        in rebuttal.
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think you should contemplate that course,
    32        because I do not know what conclusion I will reach at the
    33        end of the day, but I certainly cannot say at this time.
    34        Obviously, if Ms. Hovi's evidence with regard to various
    35        alleged failures stands uncontroverted, I will put it no
    36        higher than this, I may accept it and it may affect my view
    37        at the end of the day.
    38
    39   MR. RAMPTON:  That is what worries me; I am not in a position to
    40        cross-examine about 75 per cent of it as I am completely
    41        without notice of most of it.  It may be that Ms. Hovi will
    42        have to come back to be cross-examined.
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:  This part actually came out of something I asked Ms.
    45        Hovi this morning.  It was in relation to the forms, the
    46        swab tests, because you may remember that when Mr. Bennett
    47        was in the witness box it was pointed out that they were
    48        taken at quarter to 6 in the morning and that would have
    49        been the time of the day when the place was the cleanest.
    50        This arose out of that. 
    51 
    52        If the Plaintiffs want to call somebody in rebuttal, it 
    53        would have to be someone from Jarretts who came rather than
    54        Mr. Bennett because, obviously, anything Mr. Bennett said
    55        would be hearsay.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It would have to be whoever Mr. Rampton chose
    58        to call.  Neither you nor I can say who it should be.
    59        I think you would have to accept it is fair comment. At the
    60        moment, I am not asked to look into the responsibility for

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