Day 248 - 13 May 96 - Page 42


     
     1        leaflet complained of into the audience and shouting words
     2        to the effect that the leaflet explained 'What is wrong
     3        with McDonald's'.  I was not in attendance at the occasion,
     4        but watched it live on the screen and saw this disruption".
     5
     6        Your statement is not true, is it?
     7        A.  Well, I described in my statement what I remembered,
     8        what I remembered seeing.  Certainly what was on that tape
     9        may not be all that was shown on the day or what the
    10        audience saw.  I do not know what version is there.
    11        I definitely saw a man throw leaflets into the audience on
    12        the screen I watched.
    13
    14   Q.   We asked for a copy of the video that was referred to in
    15        your statement and that was what was served on us, and
    16        there is certainly no throwing of leaflets into the air
    17        there, is there?
    18        A.  I do not know that it made the video.  I told you what
    19        I saw on the day, on the occasion.  It definitely happened.
    20
    21   Q.   He did not throw anything, did he?
    22        A.  Not on that video, but he did on the day.
    23
    24   Q.   The leaflets that he was holding were yellow with a blank
    25        back, so they cannot have been the leaflet that is
    26        complained of?
    27        A.  Well, that is what he was holding, but there was more
    28        to it on the day.
    29
    30   Q.   Mr. Preston, the reality is that you did not see any such
    31        thing, that you just wildly exaggerate what happened; you
    32        did not bother to check the facts before you wrote your
    33        statement, and that is just typical of your approach that
    34        when it comes to criticising London Greenpeace you just
    35        make the criticism whether or not it is true, without
    36        stopping to check the facts?
    37        A.  That is not so.  I reported what I remembered seeing.
    38        That was it.
    39
    40   Q.   Going back to your second statement, if you have that there
    41        -- sorry, not the second one, the one you made recently;
    42        I think it is in tab 1A.
    43        A.  OK.
    44
    45   Q.   If you turn to paragraph 9, you say, "On the 11th February
    46        the Defendants, through the McLibel Support Campaign,
    47        produced a press release relating to the impending trial.
    48        This was soon followed by another one on the 5th March,
    49        1994.  Both of these are at appendix 4.  Further, on the
    50        11th March, there was news coverage of the Defendants' 
    51        application for leave to appeal which I was informed was 
    52        seriously inaccurate." 
    53
    54        What news coverage are you referring to?
    55        A.  I was told by my communications people that there was
    56        news coverage of the hearing for leave to appeal, which was
    57        not accurate.
    58
    59   Q.   So that was what they told you?
    60        A.  They told me, yes.  That is what I have said.  I was

Prev Next Index