Day 305 - 25 Nov 96 - Page 31


     
     1        they were not important enough to make a note of at the
     2        time, he is hardly going to remember what they were three
     3        years later.
     4
     5        He accepted, on day 260, page 55, line 45, that the letters
     6        were not received by us personally but by the group, and he
     7        accepted that what he had written in the statement was
     8        based on the presumption that this was a usual weekly event
     9        of people reading out letters sent to the group and
    10        commenting on them, and, since the three of us were
    11        present, we would have been part of it.  That was on
    12        day 260, page 56, line 42.
    13
    14        I think that, really, that admission about what the
    15        statement was based on shows the danger of the various
    16        assertions in the statement saying that two or three of us
    17        said X, Y, Z, when the reality is that he just does not
    18        know and he is making various presumptions.
    19
    20        Relating to the same meeting, in paragraph 7 of the first
    21        statement he referred to Charlie and Jane reading out a
    22        list of stalls invited to the fair.  He said in that same
    23        paragraph that Mr. Morris, myself and Mr. Gravett were the
    24        most vociferous and objecting to or agreeing to which
    25        stalls should be invited, as we were the lead persons.
    26        "Lead persons" is clearly an opinion.  It is not a
    27        statement of fact.  In his notes, on page 163 of the notes
    28        bundle, there is no record of me saying anything at all at
    29        that meeting.  So, how he can say three and a half years
    30        later that I was the most vociferous, well, it just defies
    31        belief, really.
    32
    33        Again, I would say that all of these things about where we
    34        are supposed to be the most vociferous and the leaders, and
    35        things like that, it has all been prompted; when the
    36        statement is being made, he is being asked, "Well, what
    37        about Helen, what about Dave" -- because we are the only
    38        two people left in the case.  So, you know, that is who the
    39        focus is on.  There is a real danger that when people are
    40        being focused on like that, the facts get distorted.
    41
    42        Also on that point, even if it had been true that we were
    43        the most vociferous in objecting or agreeing -- which I do
    44        not accept -- what has it got to do with whether or not
    45        myself or Mr. Morris assented to publication of the
    46        fact sheet?  It has got absolutely nothing to do with it at
    47        all.  It is another red herring invented by the
    48        Plaintiffs.
    49
    50        Just also in relation to this point, when we cross-examined 
    51        Mr. Bishop, he did say that he would have made a note if 
    52        I had said anything which stood out from the general 
    53        discussion.  That was on day 260, page 49, line 19.  Since
    54        there is nothing in his notes, I cannot have said anything
    55        that was very significant.
    56
    57        He also agreed that people who had not been to many
    58        meetings would generally not say much until they found
    59        their feet; that was on day 260, page 50, line 56; and that
    60        since the proposals were from Jane and Charlie, they had

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