Day 305 - 25 Nov 96 - Page 23


     
     1        disproportionate number of letters about McDonald's which
     2        were referred to in the notes of the spies, because that
     3        was what they were there to keep and eye out for, anything
     4        being mentioned about McDonald's; so they would not make a
     5        note of all the letters that were read out about other
     6        subjects.
     7
     8        There were various references during the evidence to me
     9        being a signatory of the London Greenpeace account, which
    10        is not disputed.  There was a reference in
    11        Mr. Pocklington's evidence -- well, he said that I paid
    12        the 'phone bill on behalf of the group.  Just in case it
    13        was not clear, that was not paying it out of my own money.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  I had not assumed that.
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:   The point is that whether or not -- well, I was a
    18        signatory, but that is just completely irrelevant to
    19        anything.  That I am a signatory to the account is neither
    20        here nor there.  The Plaintiffs still have to show that
    21        I had a role in distributing the fact sheet or procuring
    22        its distribution.
    23
    24        I referred last week to cases which refer to people in
    25        positions of authority in unincorporated associations.  The
    26        point is that even when they are in a position of
    27        authority, there still has to be evidence to show that they
    28        were in some way responsible.
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think, as I understood it -- I have not
    31        read through the references you gave me -- but that is
    32        where people are being sued as representatives of, I will
    33        just say group, for want of a better word.  You are not
    34        being sued as a representative of a group here; you are
    35        being sued in your own right, although one of the ways in
    36        which publication is put against you is part of a joint
    37        endeavour with other members, it is suggested, of the
    38        group.
    39
    40        I suppose what may be said is, if you were a signatory,
    41        that might be an indication that you are at the heart of
    42        the group's activities; and I suppose what might be said
    43        is, the mere fact that London Greenpeace had a bank account
    44        showed that it was not just a term of people who might or
    45        might not come together; it clearly had sufficient of an
    46        identity, presumably, to have cheques with its name on it.
    47        We have not heard evidence about that, but, in default of
    48        evidence, that may be the inference to make.
    49
    50   MS. STEEL:  Well, when I was a signatory, it did not have any 
    51        cheques with its name on it, because it was a building 
    52        society account. 
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have not any evidence about that.  I have
    55        just got that you were signatory of a London Greenpeace
    56        account.
    57
    58   MS. STEEL:   So, you could not draw the inference from that that
    59        there was a cheque book with the group's name on it,
    60        because -----

Prev Next Index