Day 306 - 26 Nov 96 - Page 44
1 there were other people floating around -- well, there were
2 other people on the picket, so he is not going to have an
3 unobstructed view. Anyway, he said that he observed me for
4 five minutes at the most, I think he said, and then he
5 left.
6
7 So the point is that for a period of about five minutes at
8 the most, he has observed me and watched Mr. Gravett at the
9 same time, I have had my back to him for most of that time
10 and been standing 30 to 40 feet away, and so he would not
11 have had a clear and unobstructed view of what I was doing,
12 he would not have had a clear and unobstructed view of
13 whatever was in my hands. He was not paying sole attention
14 to what I was doing, he was watching what Mr. Gravett was
15 doing and no doubt what other people were doing as well.
16 The closest he ever got was six to seven yards away, when
17 the leaflets were being taken out of the holdall and, as I
18 said, he accepted on day 250, page 48, line 58 that he
19 could not see into the holdall to see what it contained,
20 therefore the only view that he would have had would have
21 been at the moment when they were taken out, which must
22 have been just a fleeting glimpse.
23
24 And just really to make the point that he had made this
25 assumption that all the leaflets being handed out were the
26 fact sheets because that is the only leaflet he thought
27 existed. Therefore, he would not be looking closely at any
28 leaflets that he saw, and if he was not familiar with the
29 various types he would not notice the difference between
30 them at that distance. And, for that matter, with the
31 Veggies one he would not even notice it close up, as he
32 could not when he was in the witness box. We held up a
33 copy of the Veggies fact sheet and he thought it was the
34 London Greenpeace one.
35
36 Mr. Nicholson said he then left and went round the back of
37 the building, where he said he obtained a copy of the fact
38 sheet from a man. He said that he went back to the office
39 and put the leaflet in his briefcase and gave it to
40 Mrs. Brinley-Codd the next day, he thought. That was day
41 250, page 43, line 20. He did say that it was standard
42 practice to hand over leaflets obtained on protests. This
43 is particularly important bearing in mind that
44 Mr. Nicholson was not able to positively identify the copy
45 of the leaflet which he says he obtained from a man on this
46 day. He said on day 250, page 43, line 43 that he did not
47 make a note on the leaflet saying what time he had picked
48 it up and he said, "Do not forget, I was not getting
49 evidence, at least I did not think so, I was just
50 observing." So he was not treating this as an evidence
51 gathering exercise, which means that he would not be being
52 careful about what it was he had obtained and making sure
53 it was in fact what he thought it was.
54
55 On day 250, page 9, line 21, he agreed that the statement
56 that he had made, that the copy of the leaflet obtained
57 from the man was a fact sheet, that that statement was made
58 from his memory. He did not have a note of it. He did not
59 make any notes of it is what he said. So, again, since he
60 did not make a note of it and he is doing it solely from
