Day 308 - 28 Nov 96 - Page 20
1 still remains that writs were issued in 1990, which is only
2 six years after that. But, I mean, the point is that we do
3 not accept the bit about 1984 anyway, because it was about
4 a totally different leaflet. There was no attempt to
5 settle the matter amicably, either.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have all the points, I think, on this.
8
9 MS. STEEL: Right. Can I just say another bit, while I have
10 got the reference for it. On day 258, page 567, line 24,
11 Mr. Nicholson accepted that the first thing written about
12 the fact sheet was the letters to the five Defendants,
13 including myself and Mr. Morris, enclosing the writs.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
16
17 MS. STEEL: As I said before, we are not resiling from the
18 allegation of express malice against McDonald's UK.
19
20 In terms of the four individuals that were named as acting
21 with express malice -- Mr. Preston, Mr. Nicholson,
22 Mike Love and Edie Bensilum -- they were all involved with
23 the production of the leaflets and press releases, and, in
24 Mr. Preston's case, he came to court and said he took over
25 all responsibility for it. They were all in positions of
26 authority, and they failed to check that the facts, or the
27 so-called facts, that they were putting out were -- they
28 failed to check whether or not they were correct and they
29 failed to stop it when they knew that the facts were
30 incorrect. I mean, our position is that they knew the
31 facts were incorrect before it was published. But,
32 certainly, they failed to stop it even when it was brought
33 to their attention through the counterclaim.
34
35 Just in relation to this point, Mr. Nicholson said, on
36 day 259 page 9, line 55, that both Mike Love and
37 Edie Bensilum have attended court on a number of
38 occasions.
39
40 Now, they have not been called to give evidence. That is
41 the Plaintiffs' choice. Therefore, there is no evidence
42 from them to defeat the allegations that we have put
43 forward of express malice on their part; and that was
44 McDonald's choice not to call them as witnesses.
45
46 I am not going to say much about damages, but -----
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you want to take the break there, or will
49 there be a more convenient moment within the next quarter
50 of an hour?
51
52 MS. STEEL: It will not take very long, so I could do it now.
53 Just to say, really, that we have not really got any idea
54 about damages because we have not got any experience.
55 However, to be accused of being a liar is a very serious
56 allegation to make of anyone, but it is particularly
57 serious for campaigners for whom it is very important to be
58 trusted. It is important to me that I am not publicly
59 accused of deliberately deceiving the public, particularly
60 not on matters of such great public importance. I have
