Day 097 - 06 Mar 95 - Page 43
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It would but it takes a long time and
3 sometimes the witness wonders what you are talking about
4 and you take time to get there.
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6 MS. STEEL: Or: "Are there types of meat that McKeys will not
7 accept?"
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9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, there you are. I cannot see anything
10 offensive in that particular question. I doubt it is a
11 leading question and I cannot see anything offensive in it.
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13 MR. RAMPTON: I will ask another one.
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15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: In so far as the question suggests the answer
16 and merely seeks agreement, then I accept it is a leading
17 question and, if you object to it in a certain area,
18 Mr. Rampton will not ask it.
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20 MR. RAMPTON (To the witness): Do you supply skirts or diaphragm
21 in the meat which you send to McKeys?
22 A. No, I am not aware -- I do not think so, no.
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24 Q. If I am a person with some experience working in your
25 slaughterhouse, how do I tell by sight the difference
26 between, for example, a forequarter from a middle aged or
27 young cow and a forequarter from what we might call a wet
28 screw cow of nine, 10 or 11 years of age?
29 A. Generally speaking, the meat from the older cow would
30 be as its description wet. The fat would be a ------
31
32 Q. Sort of slimey meat?
33 A. That is right, yes
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35 Q. Is it shiney to the naked eye?
36 A. Yes, it is not the hard meat you are familiar with if
37 you looked at the meat.
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39 Q. Is that something which is difficult for the experienced
40 eye to detect?
41 A. I would not have thought so, no.
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43 Q. You take the animals -- perhaps I should start in a
44 different way: How does Midland Meat obtain its animals,
45 where from?
46 A. Either direct from farms, producers or from markets.
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48 Q. Or from markets?
49 A. Yes.
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51 Q. Take the farms first, who delivers the animals to your
52 plant?
53 A. It depends. Sometimes they come on our own
54 transportation -- we do have a fleet of lorries -- or the
55 they producer themselves or a contractor will bring them
56 in.
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58 Q. Does that also apply to markets or not?
59 A. I think generally from markets we would send our own
60 vehicles to collect them from markets.
