Day 258 - 07 Jun 96 - Page 63
1 A. They do now.
2
3 Q. They have tapes running all the time?
4 A. I have no idea. I do not think so. It is very
5 expensive, they can be used to tape.
6
7 MS. STEEL: It is fairly easy to just flick a switch and put
8 them on to taping mode?
9 A. Yes, so I believe.
10
11 Q. Did you check after the picket whether or not a video tape
12 had been made?
13 A. No, I do not even know who switched them on. I took it
14 that they had been switched on for the benefit of the
15 Special Branch officer who was sitting inside the control
16 room.
17
18 Q. So he could observe the protest without being seen?
19 A. Without being seen standing in the hallway.
20
21 Q. So, when you came downstairs the situation was that the
22 Special Branch officer was sitting in this room watching
23 the demonstration on the monitors?
24 A. No, he was not actually, because the pictures are not
25 all that good. He was standing in the hallway looking at
26 it through the window. We walked into the room when we had
27 a discussion.
28
29 Q. That is not what you just said.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Does it really matter? This is just part of
32 it. In due course, I assume I am going to hear some
33 evidence from your side. This is not going to hinge the
34 question on publication on whether Mr. Nicholson has said
35 on one occasion that the Special Branch man was here or
36 there and on another occasion has said something rather
37 different.
38
39 MS. STEEL: It is not whether it is here or there, but he was
40 able to watch the demonstration on the monitors.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I am waiting until -- I would like to
43 get through Mr. Nicholson's evidence. I would like you to
44 hear the evidence of the private investigators who are
45 going to be called next week, hear your cross-examination,
46 just what you challenge and what you put to them, and then
47 hear your evidence, if you give evidence, and those of any
48 witnesses you call. By the time I have got through that
49 I will have a lot of direct evidence which has been tested
50 in one way or another, and I will have to make of it what
51 I will. But I do invite you not to spend too much time
52 testing credibility on more peripheral matters.
53
54 MS. STEEL: Well, did you check whether or not there was in
55 fact a video of the picket?
56 A. No.
57
58 Q. You did not check?
59 A. No.
60
