Day 202 - 11 Jan 96 - Page 14


     
     1        break off there and resume at two o'clock.
     2
     3                         (Luncheon Adjournment)
     4
     5   MR. MORRIS:  You said in your statement at paragraph 14 that you
     6        remember one meeting.  Was that at Mr. Coton's request,
     7        that meeting?
     8        A.  My recollection is that it was not at his request.
     9
    10   Q.   You never had a meeting with Ray Coton on his own to
    11        discuss the situation?
    12        A.  I have no recollection of discussing only just the two
    13        of us together, no.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you want to ask if Mr. Atherton can
    16        remember when the one meeting was, if he can date it or
    17        relate it to anything else?  Can you help with that,
    18        Mr. Atherton?
    19        A. I probably could help if I could go through some sort of
    20        chronology of these things on something.
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:  Well -----
    23        A.  It was obviously before he left, before -----
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you remember -- did you know that he went
    26        away on holiday?
    27        A.  The only reason I know he went away on holiday is the
    28        things that I just read before coming here.
    29
    30   Q.   Can you relate it to that?
    31        A.  It was before -----
    32
    33   Q.   If you cannot, just say so.  It is a long time ago.
    34        A.  Well, knowing that he handed his resignation in on his
    35        return from holiday, I could confidently date it to before
    36        he went away on holiday that we spoke.
    37
    38   Q.   You cannot say how long before?
    39        A.  No.
    40
    41   MR. MORRIS:  You say "probable".  So, you are not sure?
    42        A.  Probable -----
    43
    44   Q.   In your statement, you say: "I think it probable this
    45        meeting took place before Ray Coton's resignation."
    46        A.  That is -- yes.
    47
    48   Q.   He did not say at the time that he was leaving?
    49        A.  Yes.  My recollection of -- what I do recollect is,
    50        that I have any clarity about, is the discussion we had 
    51        about his poor performance and him going to do another job, 
    52        probably because it is not something that happens that 
    53        often.  It is a clear recollection.  I can distinctly
    54        remember being there and talking to Ray in an amicable way,
    55        but being very candid about what he was going to do in the
    56        future.  He had problems in managing to run the restaurant
    57        to both our satisfactions at that time and we were
    58        discussing that issue.  My recollection is that, you know,
    59        the resignation letter was not part of that, and that came
    60        later.

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