Day 147 - 04 Jul 95 - Page 41


     
     1        concerned about that, they feel intimidated about it. We
     2        did make an application.
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I will hear anything Mr. Rampton wants to say
     5        about that.  My inclination is to allow any person who does
     6        not want to give their address, whether they have good
     7        reason for that reticence or not, to allow them not to give
     8        their address provided it is written on the usual slip
     9        which is kept in the court file, unless the party not
    10        calling the witness puts before me a specific reason
    11        relevant to any issue for needing to know the address.
    12
    13   MR. MORRIS:  Just one more thing about witness statements:  It
    14        is point 8 of the Plaintiffs' list, that they have a
    15        problem because they are not sure what they put in our
    16        trial bundles and whether they accord with their own
    17        statements.
    18
    19   MR. RAMPTON:  No, my Lord, that is not right.  I am sorry, it is
    20        not right.  That is not our concern.  We know perfectly
    21        well what is in the trial bundles.  What we are concerned
    22        about is that we have no way of knowing what it was -- it
    23        is a matter of actual history -- that Barlow's served on
    24        the Defendants at the time when the witness statements were
    25        exchanged.  I explained exactly what the position was.
    26        This is becoming a bit of a bugbear, this question.
    27
    28        What Barlows have in their offices -- Mrs. Brinley-Codd
    29        will immediately correct me if I am wrong -- are what we
    30        call the "originals".  What has gone into the trial bundles
    31        are copies of those originals so far as we know.  In some
    32        cases, earlier versions, as we saw with the statement, I
    33        cannot remember what it was, the other day, earlier
    34        versions containing more material than has gone into the
    35        final version and Barlows still have in their office, was
    36        served on the Defendants.
    37
    38        That means we have no way of telling whether what the
    39        Defendants have got corresponds with what they have in
    40        their trial bundles, unless we look at the statements the
    41        Defendants have got which were exchanged back in July
    42        1993.  That is not something that I am willing to ask your
    43        Lordship to let me do, to look at the Defendants' witness
    44        statements.  If they are anything like mine they are
    45        covered in handwriting.
    46
    47        It is right to say, as often happens, each statement went
    48        through a number of drafts or most of them did.  There is
    49        really no way we can answer this question.  The Defendants
    50        are the only people in a position to do it, and the only 
    51        way they can do it is by checking what they have (if they 
    52        can be bothered, which I certainly would not be) against 
    53        what is in the trial bundles.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  At the moment I cannot see any difficulty
    56        about that because it is a practical problem which is
    57        insurmountable unless you are prepared to hand over the
    58        copies you have got.  Mr. Rampton does not want to ask you
    59        to do that.  I cannot see you actually losing anything from
    60        this because, for instance, having heard what Mr. Rampton

Prev Next Index