Day 157 - 18 Jul 95 - Page 12


     
     1   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, may I make an objection?  I will not sit
     2        here and listen to my submissions being deliberately
     3        misrepresented for the benefit of the waiting press and
     4        public.  Your Lordship knows that the whole basis of the
     5        stance which we have taken is that the Defendants have been
     6        using the transcripts over a period of time to generate
     7        misleading and damaging reports of the evidence.  That is
     8        the whole and only basis for it.
     9
    10   MS. STEEL:  As I said on a previous occasion, if the statements
    11        that have been reported are inaccurate they cannot have
    12        been taken from the transcripts, and if they are accurate,
    13        then Mr. Rampton has absolutely nothing to complain about.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  All I am doing is giving you the opportunity,
    16        which you can either accept or reject, to explain to me or
    17        put your argument on how you will be handicapped in the
    18        conduct of your action in court or how your preparation of
    19        the case will be interfered with, which is the ways you
    20        have expressed the matter, if you obtain copies of the
    21        transcript on the conditions set out in Barlow Lyde and
    22        Gilbert's letter dated 17th July.
    23
    24        You do not have to respond to that, but I am making sure
    25        that you are aware that it is a matter in my mind and,
    26        therefore, I am expressly giving you the opportunity, not
    27        necessarily now but at some stage in your argument, to tell
    28        me.
    29
    30   MS. STEEL:  Firstly, they have no right to impose those
    31        conditions and, secondly, it will have an effect on us
    32        because we will be intimidated; we will be frightened to
    33        speak about what is going on in this case.  If we are
    34        frightened to speak about what is going on in this case
    35        that will prevent us potentially meeting further
    36        witnesses.  It will prevent us getting potential advice
    37        from anybody else that we talk to, friends, family,
    38        whatever; they all have made helpful suggestions in the
    39        past and no doubt they will in the future, but if we are
    40        afraid to tell them what is going on in the case we will
    41        not have any of that benefit.  It will affect our conduct
    42        of this case.
    43
    44   MR. MORRIS:  I will try and go back to the plan that I had.
    45        I will cover all the points that you have raised.
    46
    47        McDonald's have asserted that we could rely on taking our
    48        own notes of the proceedings whilst, of course,
    49        simultaneously doing cross-examination and making legal
    50        submissions and preparing questions and cross-referencing 
    51        answers, and all that kind of thing. 
    52 
    53        Mr. Rampton added it is hard work, of course, and I know
    54        that in some senses the Defendants are resistant to that.
    55        It is not for the press.  The point is that Mr. Rampton
    56        seems to think there is something wrong with us if we are
    57        unable to take verbatim notes whilst conducting our case in
    58        court, never mind cross-referencing their notes or even
    59        being able to read them because my handwriting is so poor.
    60

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