Day 311 - 06 Dec 96 - Page 33
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2 MS. STEEL: Can I say, there is no evidence that that affidavit
3 was unprompted. Of Mr. Morris.
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5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am sorry, you must let Mr. Rampton develop
6 his submission.
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8 MS. STEEL: But it is a legal point, because he is giving
9 evidence that it was an unprompted affidavit and there is
10 no evidence of that.
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12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, he is not. He is suggesting that it was
13 unprompted for my consideration.
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15 MS. STEEL: Just as long as there is not evidence
16 recognising-----
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18 MR. RAMPTON: There is no evidence one way or the other.
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20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If there are any more interruptions I am
21 going to have to take firm action about it. I realise that
22 when you are on the other side in litigation you may want
23 to bite back every so often, but Mr. Rampton was extremely
24 patient during your submissions and you must be patient
25 during his and just keep quiet.
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27 MS. STEEL: He did actually raise matters where he considered
28 that we had said something wrong, something incorrect,
29 which is all I am doing.
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31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: All Mr. Rampton has suggested for my
32 consideration, he puts it in straightforward terms, is that
33 what was in Mr. Morris' affidavit was unprompted. That is
34 a matter for me to decide, but there can be no objection to
35 Mr. Rampton suggesting it to me.
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37 MR. RAMPTON: Since Mr. Morris did not give evidence we shall
38 never know one or way or the other how the question and
39 answer, especially if there was one between him and his
40 solicitor, might have gone. But the main point is this,
41 and really this is the part of Mr. Clare's evidence which
42 is chiefly important; that he records an admission made by
43 Mr. Morris as to production of the anti-McDonald's
44 material, and if I can be a little bit rhetorical about it,
45 lo! and behold, five and a half years later, outside the
46 four walls of this case, in another case entirely which
47 Mr. Morris has no reason to suppose would come to our
48 attention, Mr. Morris says on oath precisely what he has
49 said to Mr. Clare five and a half years earlier.
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51 Even ignoring certainties, if one is considering only the
52 balance of probabilities, which one is in this case, those
53 two independent pieces of evidence at five and a half years
54 distance provide a quite remarkable corroboration of each
55 other.
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57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What it seems to me you are saying is that if
58 I thought the situation -- leave aside for the moment, I am
59 not saying it is unimportant, 8th February 1990, which is
60 the business of whether members of the group said that they
