Day 086 - 09 Feb 95 - Page 46
1 notice has been given or the appropriate time for a counter
2 notice to be given has not passed because it does not mean
3 to say that it is accepted as such.
4
5 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, there is a further point, with respect.
6 Even if all that had happened, and the document was
7 irrelevant because an admission had been made, then all the
8 Civil Evidence Act Notices in the world would not make it
9 admissible.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. You have made that point before.
12
13 MR. RAMPTON: I make it again because Mr. Morris does not
14 listen.
15
16 MR. MORRIS: Because of the admission, we are not challenging
17 the fact that McDonald's have admitted responsibility for a
18 food poisoning outbreak because, obviously, that is
19 admitting our case. We are trying to ask relevant
20 questions of the person who is now in charge of food safety
21 at McDonald's, and to see on the implications of this event
22 that they have admitted.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You are not being handicapped at the moment
25 by not being able actually to read out the document or even
26 ask him to look at it.
27
28 MR. MORRIS: It makes it so difficult to ask questions.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It does not. I tried to help you with the
31 last and we got through that perfectly well.
32
33 MR. MORRIS: I know, but Mr. Rampton keeps jumping up all the
34 time.
35
36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Use that as a model. Do not ask him to look
37 at it at the moment and put your question to Mr. Atherton.
38 If you want some help from me, ask for it.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: Are you aware that the authorities charged with
41 investigating food poisoning incidents both at Preston and
42 in Oregon in 1982 believe that under-cooking of hamburgers
43 and cross-contamination were the causes?
44 A. I am not aware of this. I have not heard about this
45 Oregon case and I have not heard about the sort of
46 judgment, if you like, or whatever this document is
47 beforehand.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If it turns out to be a fact that authorities
50 who investigated the Preston outbreak, and also an outbreak
51 in Oregon in 1982, came to the view that under-cooking
52 and/or cross-contamination played a part in the
53 responsibility for outbreaks of E.coli food poisoning, you
54 were not made aware of that?
55 A. That is right. I was not made aware of that.
56
57 Q. It did not come through whatever system of information
58 McDonald's might have to you?
59 A. The first I heard about Oregon, I think, Mr. Morris or
60 Ms. Steel mentioned it earlier in the -- earlier while
