Day 198 - 08 Dec 95 - Page 29
1 MR. RAMPTON: You had him, my Lord, on training and how -----
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I see, yes, but I have not got any further
4 statement here from him?
5
6 MR. RAMPTON: No, you have not, no. We have not had time to do
7 that.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You want to recall Mr. Atherton, do you?
10
11 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, more particularly, for the reason that
12 the first we knew when Mr. Coton got into the witness box
13 Mr. Atherton was supposed to have been at a number of these
14 meetings in July or August 1991. If he is going to deal
15 with those meetings, he can also, perhaps appropriately,
16 deal with the broader question of this alleged pressure and
17 what it may have led to, because he was Mr. Davis'
18 Supervisor when Mr. Davis was himself Area Supervisor.
19
20 Mr. Skehel can also deal with those meetings and Mr. Tim
21 Taylor can make a Civil Evidence Act statement about them.
22 It appears now that Mr. Andy Taylor was dropped out of the
23 frame, so I do not propose him.
24
25 There is also mentioned today for the first time
26 Mr. Guerin, I think his name was, who is also supposed to
27 have been at some of these meetings. My Lord, those are
28 possibilities, but I would contemplate, if your Lordship
29 gave me leave, calling Mr. Skehel and Mr. Atherton for that
30 purpose, because they can give relevant evidence on other
31 parts of the new evidence.
32
33 The only thing that I have not touched on is the question
34 which your Lordship asked yesterday. I would not myself
35 volunteer this, in the sense I do not think I am entitled
36 to, which is the question of what the turnover was when
37 Mr. Davis was the Manager.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, the only reason I mentioned it was that
40 if it was being said that turnover was high under Mr. Coton
41 because he was such a lousy Manager, it would be
42 interesting to see whether what turnover was under
43 Mr. Davis so that one could see whether it was the way
44 Mr. Coton treated his Managers or whether the Defendants
45 could argue it was the system which they did not like.
46
47 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But if the figures are not available, I
50 am -----
51
52 MR. RAMPTON: I do not know whether they are or not; all I can
53 tell your Lordship is that I have not found them in
54 Mr. Davis' performance reviews when he was Manager.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, that is obviously the reason why I raised
57 it.
58
59 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, I understand that. No, I understood it at
60 the time. If Mr. Davis is going to come back, then that is
