Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 34


     
     1        my certain knowledge that in August 1993 when I attended
     2        the site that there were tests being carried out by Bristol
     3        Laboratories at that time.
     4
     5   MR. MORRIS:  If we go to page 12 -- sorry, before I ask you
     6        about that, the temperatures when they arrive at McKey's,
     7        they do not reject all the meat over four degrees, do they?
     8        A.  I cannot answer for what McKey's do on their site.
     9        What I said to you was that I have known meat to be sent
    10        back because it was out of temperature.  Clearly, I have
    11        not visited a McKey's depot in fact and, apart from these
    12        records here, I have not seen the records and I am not
    13        competent to comment on what decisions they make.
    14
    15   Q.   These records here show meat arriving at McKey as 4.8
    16        degrees and still being accepted.
    17        A.  I would consider that to be a reasonable judgment at
    18        4.8 degrees remembering that ----
    19
    20   Q.   But it shows they do not impose their so-called
    21        specifications, does it not?
    22        A.  It is up to them, I would say, to decide on the day
    23        what is within the specification. I think that they make a
    24        management decision.
    25
    26   Q.   Is that the kind of same attitude that permeates the
    27        abattoir as well, that if things go outside the
    28        specifications and guidelines, basically, you can take it
    29        or leave it, depending on how you feel at the time?
    30        A.  The attitude that permeates the abattoir is that they
    31        wish to do their job correctly.
    32
    33   Q.   They did not chill the "detained" and "condemned" room for
    34        seven years, even though it was a statutory requirement.
    35
    36   MR. RAMPTON:  No, my Lord.  That is completely wrong.  I happen
    37        to have copy of the Regulations here.  They did not come in
    38        force until 1st January 1993.
    39
    40   THE WITNESS:  Could I add that when the meat is in the detention
    41        room -----
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Your underlining point may or may not be a
    44        good one, but it was not a statutory requirement, he said.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  It was directive or requirement.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, not a statutory requirement, which is
    49        why I asked to see if my recollection of what the
    50        relationship between directives and domestic law, whether 
    51        it was right or not.  Whether it is right, I do not know; 
    52        Mr. Bennett thinks it is. 
    53
    54   THE WITNESS:  If could I add ----
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  So, something is not a ----
    57        A.  In a detention room which is locked and the key is in
    58        the possession of the meat inspectors, that meat is in the
    59        possession of the enforcement authorities.  To that extent,
    60        Jarretts have no control over it.  The enforcement

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