Day 084 - 07 Feb 95 - Page 07
1 1 o'clock; at 2 o'clock Mr. Rampton calls Mr. Atherton and
2 we come back to discovery at an appropriate moment when you
3 are better prepared in the light of the ruling which I have
4 just given.
5
6 MR. MORRIS: The only thing about that is there are other legal
7 matters that are outstanding, some of which are important
8 and urgent. I feel they should be heard today because, if
9 we were to put them off, it would be unfair to put them off
10 for a long time and, realistically, if we do hear them then
11 we are going to lose a day in any event in the tight
12 schedule that is ahead of us. I think probably the best
13 thing in the light of -- we have not had confirmation on
14 the funeral date exactly yet -- everything that it would be
15 prudent to move Mr. Bowes to the end of this section.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not want to consider that yet. I think
18 we should start Mr. Atherton at 2 o'clock. It may very
19 well mean that we will get back to interlocutory matters at
20 the end of this week. In fact, significant witness though
21 he may be, we really, I would have thought, should have
22 some time on Friday to get back to him.
23
24 MR. RAMPTON: I heartily endorse that. He was, I think, an
25 important witness. Having heard Professor Jackson and
26 having seen the evidence of Mr. North, proposed evidence of
27 Mr. North, and knowing as I now do what the accident
28 statistics tell us, I have to say that I no longer think
29 that Mr. Atherton is quite as important as he once might
30 have been.
31
32 My intention (and I think I have indicated this before in
33 broad terms) would be to put him in the witness box, ask
34 him how he comes to be where he is, what his experience is,
35 what his broad responsibilities are, and then to say
36 simply, in effect, whether he is content that the detail
37 (and there is a vast amount of it which by now, my own
38 belief is, is to a large extent irrelevant), the detail of
39 what is contained in Mr. Wignall's statement should stand
40 as his evidence-in-chief for the Defendants to go into, if
41 they should wish it; I have no wish to go into it. By that
42 means I think that I could sit down probably before 3
43 o'clock if we start him at 2.00 which leaves the rest of
44 today, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for him to be
45 finished. I am most reluctant to move Mr. Bowes yet
46 again. I have no sympathy with Mr. Morris' suggestion
47 whatsoever.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think we should start Mr. Atherton at
50 2 o'clock. I will rise until 20 to 12 now. What I suggest
51 you do is between then and 1 o'clock raise the matters you
52 are particularly concerned about. Think about the 80
53 minutes you have and do not spend so much time on any one
54 topic that you do not at least get to mention another which
55 you think is important. Then at 2 o'clock we will go on to
56 Mr. Atherton. We will get through him and, hopefully, come
57 back to your points before the end of this week, but we
58 will see how we go on that.
59
60 In any event, overnight you will be able to have a better
