Day 306 - 26 Nov 96 - Page 35
1 16th October 1989.
2
3 Now, Mr. Carroll agreed on day 236, page 42, line 23, that
4 there were other small pink and also white leaflets that
5 were also being distributed which were a single sheet.
6 I think it should be noted that the only leaflet which we
7 have seen which has 16th October 1989 written on it is the
8 one that appears at tab 48 in volume pink 1A, which has
9 written on it "Handed to B de V outside McDonald's on 16th
10 October 1989", and that is one of the short versions of the
11 'What's wrong with McDonald's' leaflets, and I think that
12 is clear evidence, in fact, that was the leaflet that was
13 being distributed on that day which you can, in fact, see
14 in the photographs where it is possible to identify what
15 the leaflets are.
16
17 Mr. Carroll said on day 237, page 19, line 16, that I had
18 been handing out fact sheets throughout the picket and that
19 I was not doing it furtively for just a couple of minutes,
20 that he had observed me throughout the picket. The point
21 is, if that was true, that I was handing out fact sheets
22 throughout the picket and I was not doing it furtively --
23 which, incidentally, if I was handing out leaflets
24 I certainly would not be furtive about it; I would be quite
25 open about it -- then it is particularly significant that
26 in all the photographs that were taken on that
27 demonstration there is not one single photograph of me
28 handing out any leaflets. There are photographs taken by,
29 I think, three, four or five different people; there are
30 certainly two lots for the Defence and at least two
31 different sets for the Plaintiffs, and none of those show
32 me handing out any leaflets.
33
34 Mr. Carroll's evidence was that he was observing me from
35 about 30 to 40 yards away when he saw me distributing the
36 fact sheet. He said I was by the steps at one stage and
37 then 30 to 40 yards away. That was day 236, page 43, line
38 23. I think the closest he got to me when he says that he
39 was watching me handing out the fact sheets was about 20 to
40 25 feet away. It should be noted that he said on day 237,
41 page 21, line 15 that he was not specifically concentrating
42 on me. On page 20 he said that for most of the time I was
43 in crowd at the foot of the steps.
44
45 I think the point to be taken from that is that the closest
46 I was was 20 to 25 feet away and that I was in a crowd, and
47 for somebody who was not familiar with the variety of
48 anti-McDonald's leaflets that there were, I really do not
49 see how, from that distance, he could positively identify
50 me as having handed out copies of the London Greenpeace
51 fact sheet. There is no way that he could be even remotely
52 sure about that without obtaining a copy by one means or
53 another from me directly.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
56
57 MS. STEEL: I think in some ways the most significant part of
58 the evidence about -- well, the most significant part of
59 Mr. Carroll's evidence is about the memo which he drew up
60 which appears in the counterclaim bundle, document No. 78,
