Day 107 - 24 Mar 95 - Page 18
1 food.
2
3 (2) If the answer to either of the requests above is in
4 the affirmative, each and every fact and matter relied upon
5 to support the said allegation.
6
7 (3) If the answer to the said request in (1) above is in
8 the negative, the precise nature of the case which is being
9 made against the Plaintiffs with the full particulars of
10 those facts and matters relied upon to support it".
11
12 The answer is: "The Defendants' case is that since the
13 Plaintiffs sell enormous quantities of meat worldwide,
14 particularly chicken and minced beef, there is a risk that
15 their customers could suffer food poisoning.
16
17 Secondly, the Plaintiffs sell enormous quantities of meat
18 worldwide, particularly chicken and minced beef, and were
19 responsible for an outbreak of food poisoning in Preston in
20 early 1991".
21
22 It is clear from that that the context is that the Preston
23 incident is being used to support the wider pleading about
24 meat being responsible for the majority of cases of food
25 poisoning, and the general risk, therefore, about eating
26 meat at the Plaintiffs' premises. It is not that the
27 Preston incident is some separate compartment that is not
28 at all relevant to the general pleadings. It is clearly
29 part of it.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but if that is the extent of it, you
32 have so far pleaded and had admitted what you need from
33 Preston as to that. That is the end of the trail, as I am
34 minded to think at the moment, because of the authorities
35 which Mr. Rampton ran through quickly a few weeks ago.
36
37 What my concern is, that in addition to certain numbers of
38 people in or around Preston suffering food poisoning as a
39 result of food being under-cooked at McDonald's, which is a
40 summary of what is alleged at the moment and what is
41 admitted by McDonald's, so there is no need to hear any
42 more evidence to establish it, you have other things in the
43 PHLS report which are specific facts as to the way this
44 came about which you want to adduce in evidence, if indeed
45 they are not admitted, so that you can ask someone like
46 Mr. North: "What do you make of that?"
47
48 Although there has been some laxity about pleading matters
49 of fact upon which you want to rely for your Plea of
50 Justification and Fair Comment, when it comes to Preston
51 the point has been taken by Mr. Rampton, rightly, in my
52 view, that the precise facts you wish to rely upon should
53 be specifically pleaded.
54
55 So, I gave you an opportunity to apply for an amendment and
56 when you made it, I granted it, I granted you leave. In
57 fact, Mr. Rampton did not actually object to it; he
58 objected at first but that was purely because of a
59 misunderstanding as to what was being alleged where.
60
