Day 001 - 28 Jun 94 - Page 14
1 My Lord, in the light of my reading of that pamphlet in
that way, your Lordship may not find it difficult to see
2 why it is that the plaintiffs brought this action. It is,
your Lordship may conclude at the end of the case, a
3 wholesale attack on almost every aspect of the plaintiffs'
business which, if it were accepted as being true, would
4 necessarily cause McDonald's an enormous amount of damage.
5 As I have indicated to your Lordship, I will have to go
into the matter in a little more detail later on. It is,
6 on the plaintiffs' case, completely false in every
material respect. It is that truth which by bringing this
7 action McDonald's hopes to establish.
8 My Lord, it is right that I tell your Lordship something
about the history of the action. Earlier versions of this
9 leaflet, or something like it, have been in existence for
some considerable time, perhaps since 1983 or 1984. The
10 contents of the leaflet, or the substance of it, have been
repeated or reflected from time to time in various places
11 and by different people. Each time that has occurred
McDonald's has taken action to prevent a recurrence and
12 usually with a degree of success.
13 A copy of this actual leaflet first came into the
possession of the second plaintiff, the UK subsidiary, in
14 October 1987. The occasion was a demonstration outside
the second plaintiffs head office in East Finchley in
15 London on 16th October 1987 which succeeded similar
demonstrations in 1985 and 1986.
16
The demonstration was organised by a group called, or
17 rather, I would say, calling itself Greenpeace (London).
The second plaintiffs, when they got hold of the leaflet,
18 decided they should try to find out what or who this group
actually consisted of, who its leaders were and what its
19 aims were.
20 Mr. Sydney Nicholson, who is a senior officer of the
plaintiffs and a former senior policeman, tried to find
21 out for himself but did not succeed. The leaflet was
distributed again on 16th October 1988 and copies were
22 available later that night on 29th October at the
Greenpeace (London) Anti-McDonald's Fayre held at Conway
23 Hall in London.
24 My Lord, thus far, 1984 to 1988, repetition of the
leaflet's allegations had been sporadic and fairly
25 limited, partly because McDonald's had taken action to
prevent the poison spreading. In 1988, however, something
26 of a change occurred. From about June similar allegations
began to appear with an alarming frequency in what one
27 might call mainstream or respectable media, both national
and local.
28
Then in early October items began to appear in the media
29 which anticipated the Greenpeace (London) anti-McDonald's
day fixed for 16th of that month which repeated or
30 re-produced allegations made in the leaflet. After that
date, 16th October 1989, the leaflet's allegations were
