Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 70


     
     1        anyway.  But with Mr. Coton that may well not be the case.
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It did not happen with Mr. Gibney.
     4
     5   MR. RAMPTON:  No, it did not.  I managed to cope with
     6        Mr. Gibney's new material.  I had had some notice of that.
     7        But Mr. Coton, being a Manager, as it were, a sweep-up for
     8        the Colchester witnesses, I (myself) would intend, with
     9        your Lordship's approval and (if necessary) direction, to
    10        treat this as though it were a formal pleading and go
    11        through it chapter and verse.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have just urged you to get the request out
    14        as soon as possible.  It is common sense that the request
    15        ought not to be a search for every possible thing which can
    16        be asked, but just the important things.  I would have
    17        thought that it would actually help Ms. Steel and
    18        Mr. Morris because they may then just be able to pass that
    19        on to Mr. Coton, who is clearly an intelligent man, who can
    20        express himself quite clearly.  You may then just be able
    21        to pass the request on to him and he may write out his
    22        answers for you.  You can serve that and your preparation
    23        is done.
    24
    25   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, and then ----
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There then can be no criticism of you anyway
    28        that you did not provide this detail or that because you
    29        could say, "Well, that is what we have managed to get off
    30        Mr. Coton".
    31
    32   MR. RAMPTON:  Can I only say this, that the actual work -- apart
    33        from sending a piece of paper to Mr. Coton and getting his
    34        answers -- the actual work, if there is any, falls on us
    35        when the answers come back, because that is the point at
    36        which we are able to investigate in detail what he said.
    37        So I would urge that if we get the request out today and
    38        tomorrow, I would urge the Defendants to deal with it at
    39        once so that we have the maximum time before he gives
    40        evidence to deal with it.
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  All I will say is that I am sure Mr. Morris,
    43        if he is dealing with it as soon as he gets the request,
    44        will send it on to Mr. Coton, and if he merely says to
    45        Mr. Coton that the judge would appreciate his response to
    46        it as soon as possible, hopefully there will be no problem
    47        about Mr. Coton being called and telling me what he says is
    48        the truth of the matter.
    49
    50        Right.  We will adjourn and we will see if there is any 
    51        dispute at all about the extent of Mr. Jenssen's evidence 
    52        in the morning.  10.30.

Prev Next Index