Day 289 - 29 Oct 96 - Page 15


     
     1        into crates in modules and transported by lorry to the
     2        slaughter plant an average distance of twenty five to 30
     3        miles, sometimes up to seventy miles.  That was day 89,
     4        page 50, line 12.  He said that the kind of injuries which
     5        birds may suffer in the process of catching included
     6        dislocation of the hip joint, which can cause a hemorrhage,
     7        broken legs, crushed heads - for example if their head was
     8        caught between the crate and the module when the drawers
     9        were being shut.  Dr. Pattison claimed that such injuries
    10        were not common.
    11
    12        However, you may remember that John Bruton, who was a
    13        former catcher for Sun Valley between 1987 to 1993, said
    14        that such injuries were a regular occurrence as the
    15        catchers were not given enough time to take care with the
    16        birds.  That was despite the fact that they voiced their
    17        concerns to the company.  This was particularly so after
    18        the company reduced the number of catchers to cut costs.
    19        He said that a team of six catchers was expected to load a
    20        lorry with between 4,000 to 6,000 birds approximately every
    21        45 minutes.  The references for that are actually the
    22        references I have got for Dr. Pattison.
    23
    24   MR JUSTICE BELL:   It does not matter who it is from.  What is
    25        the reference?
    26
    27   MS. STEEL:   Day 102, page 14, line 56 and day 102, page 28,
    28        line 38.  That one seems fine.  He said on day 102, page
    29        13, line 4, that it takes approximately five to six hours
    30        to clear a shed of approximately 20,000 birds.
    31
    32        Can I just say in general about John Bruton that I have no
    33        doubt at all that Mr. Rampton is going to try to discredit
    34        his evidence by saying he has a grudge against the
    35        company.  Mr. Bruton did actually say in evidence that he
    36        did not have a grudge against the company, despite the fact
    37        that he had been sacked at a time when the company was
    38        basically busy laying off workers in order to cut costs of
    39        the clearing sheds and transporting the birds to the
    40        slaughter houses.  He was given a good reference by
    41        Sun Valley Poultry, which was referred to on day 115, page
    42        45, line 1.
    43
    44        But on top of that it is particularly futile for
    45        Mr. Rampton to try and criticise Mr. Bruton basically
    46        because virtually the entirety of Mr. Bruton's evidence was
    47        accepted by Dr. Pattison.  So Mr. Bruton can hardly be said
    48        to be lying as he has got a grudge against the company.
    49        (Pause)
    50 
    51        Mr. Bruton described on day 115, page 37 the process of 
    52        catching and removing the birds, and he said that before 
    53        the catching could start the modules had to be brought into
    54        the sheds, and the way that this was done was that the
    55        doors of the sheds would be opened and the catchers would
    56        go in clapping their hands, shouting, whistling, shaking
    57        about, whichever was the easiest way.  He said that some
    58        lads would kick them or throw them out of the way, and
    59        then, as long as you had a gap in the sheds to bring the
    60        modules in, you would start.  You would start work loading

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