Day 240 - 24 Apr 96 - Page 41
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2 THE WITNESS: Thank you. (The witness withdrew)
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4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just leave the witness box and either leave
5 or sit down. Someone else will tidy up for you. Take your
6 own papers with you of course.
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8 Now, before we talk about anything else, I want to talk a
9 little about scheduling and, in particular, the other
10 litigation which you are involved in, Mr. Morris, because
11 what has happened, so Mr. Glen has informed me, is that he
12 spoke to your instructing solicitor, and he also spoke to
13 the Listing Office at the Central London Trial Centre, and
14 he made it clear that 2nd and 3rd May were not convenient
15 to this court because we had two witnesses fixed in where
16 obviously the 8th and 9th August would be convenient
17 because this court will not be sitting.
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19 The 8th and 9th August were convenient to your solicitor,
20 though she had not been able to consult the London Borough
21 of Haringey, and we had understood that the Listing Office
22 pencilled in 8th and 9th August, so that seemed to me to be
23 enough from our point of view, but this morning Mr. Glen
24 has heard that the London Borough of Haringey had objected
25 to a delay on 8th and 9th August and, therefore, the
26 Central London Trial Centre have put your case in for 2nd
27 and 3rd May.
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29 In a moment, I am going to rise and see if Mr. Glen -- and
30 I would like everyone to wait -- or I can actually speak to
31 the Listing Office at the Central London Trial Centre
32 because what we have not been given one way or another is
33 an opportunity to put forward alternative dates in case
34 they could be taken.
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36 I have to say that I am faintly irritated at not being
37 consulted by anyone at all, be it the solicitors on either
38 side, and it may be unfair on the London Borough of
39 Haringey if they did not know what the situation is as to
40 whether your other case could not have been dealt with some
41 time last Autumn or this Spring because, as I have said in
42 another context, we have had many days when we have not
43 been sitting on this trial and I would have thought days
44 could have been put forward last Autumn or this Spring for
45 the disposal of the other action.
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47 What I want to be able to do is to give, because I think
48 May may be full up at the Central London Trial Centre,
49 dates in June which they may be able to take up because,
50 speaking quite candidly, I can see that another party to
51 that action might not be happy with an adjournment to
52 August rather than May of that other matter. I cannot
53 direct them when they will hear it.
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55 MR. MORRIS: I am frankly irritated about the whole situation
56 because, and maybe it is none of this court's business to
57 know the details of the other trial, but it was adjourned
58 entirely 100 per cent because of the late service of
59 documents and unilateral service of trial bundles with
60 additional documents that had not been shown to our side,
