Day 156 - 17 Jul 95 - Page 21
1 last week. We made it clear what our point was.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Absolutely. I do not think there is any
4 problem about it.
5
6 There are two matters which, since we have time, I will
7 mention; neither of them need delay us now. They are both
8 in relation to what lawyers call "views". I raised at one
9 time the possibility of me going into a McDonald's
10 restaurant. I have no intention of visiting a McDonald's
11 restaurant if things have had such advance notification
12 that there is any risk of -- this is not a describe at your
13 clients; it is just my understanding of human nature --
14 that there will be what one of the McDonald's witnesses,
15 I thought very elegantly, described as "a dog and pony
16 show" ---
17
18 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- because I might just as well not bother to
21 go in those circumstances. I can see it is difficult to
22 walk inpromptu in that everyone in court, for instance, has
23 to know when we are going to go and word will get around
24 one way or another. If it had any kind of advance warning
25 so that members of the -- I am going to speak completely
26 openly -- media were there, then people would not be acting
27 in any way normally, query, whether they would be acting in
28 any way normally if a great team of us went in anyway.
29
30 I would have preferred to go in in jeans and t-shirt at any
31 time which suited me during my free-time. I can see that
32 might be unsatisfactory if I then took into account
33 anything I saw for or against one of the parties.
34
35 All that I had in mind was to go in to make sure that
36 I have got the way the system generally runs clear in my
37 mind and I am not making any false assumption. I do not
38 think it is vital to deciding the case in any way. I am
39 not going to come away with the view that that looked to be
40 a very well run ship in favour of McDonald's, or I saw
41 something unsafe happening which I would bear in mind in
42 favour of the Defendants. If there is any doubt about it,
43 I think the best thing is that I do not go at all.
44
45 MR. RAMPTON: The problem is, my Lord, that if you go in with
46 your jeans and t-shirt -- I can think of certain t-shirts
47 where you would be refused admission -- if you went in as
48 an ordinary member of the public, you would not ordinarily
49 get to see the kitchen or the back room.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I would not.
52
53 MR. RAMPTON: If you are content with that, I certainly have no
54 objection, otherwise what we can try to do is to find a
55 Manager, such as Mr. Giardina, for example, who would know
56 of the visit but who would be under an oath of silence so
57 far as the rest of the crew were concerned and would do
58 nothing ------
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I think what is going on in the kitchen
