Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 45


     
     1        right.
     2
     3   Q.   1995?
     4        A.  Sorry, 1994.
     5
     6   Q.   That is not several years ago, is it?
     7        A.  No.  It is some time ago, though.
     8
     9   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you are suggesting there is anything
    10        sinister, put it, because largely one works on one's own
    11        experience and one knows with one's own business papers
    12        that every so often you go through, if you have a spare
    13        hour, and you just chuck away the stuff you do not think
    14        you are ever going to need the future.  So, if you think
    15        there is something sinister, put it to him point blank.
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:  I think it is very convenient that throughout the
    18        whole of this case there are large quantities of documents
    19        missing which would be very helpful.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am giving you a chance to put it to him
    22        because, as I say, one's judgment is formed by one's own
    23        experience to some extent; and, if you are a busy person in
    24        a busy job, you accumulate a lot of paper and the sooner
    25        you get rid of a lot of it the better, very often.  So,
    26        I am inviting you to put it, if you say that there is a
    27        sinister reason in Mr. Skehel's case.  But put it to him
    28        point blank, rather than ask -----
    29
    30   MS. STEEL:  I mean, the point is, the point of my question was
    31        to find out when the documents were thrown away, and the
    32        witness has now changed his mind.
    33
    34   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Well, you put that to him, you see, or put it
    35        to him that you suggest there is a particular reason for
    36        him getting rid of them, so I can understand what you are
    37        getting at.  There is nothing sinister in it itself, unless
    38        you put a reason for getting rid of records from the past.
    39
    40   MS. STEEL:  It is not just about Mr. Skehel; it is about the
    41        whole Company.
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Put it to him directly, rather than the
    44        oblique approach.
    45
    46   MS. STEEL:  (To the witness):  Well, we will be moving on to
    47        this later, but there were two performance reviews which
    48        you say that you carried out on Mr. Coton which cannot be
    49        found, either by you or by the Company; there is this rap
    50        session where you say the crew made various complaints 
    51        including, you believe, that was when the issue first came 
    52        up of docking of hours; other documents in relation to the 
    53        Colchester store.  None of these seem to be available, and
    54        I would suggest to you that the reason they are not
    55        available is because they do not back up what you are
    56        saying in court, so they were got rid of to help you in
    57        your position?
    58        A.  When I discarded the documents when I moved in 1994,
    59        I was completely unaware of my potential involvement in
    60        this situation.  I would say that most of the information

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