Day 070 - 20 Dec 94 - Page 55


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  I do not know if he might even be going away or
     3        something; I think certainly a bit longer than that.
     4
     5   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you suggest a deadline, Mr. Rampton?
     6
     7   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, no.  I am not willing to do that because
     8        I am conscious of your Lordship's very proper appreciation
     9        of the Defendants' difficulties, Mr. North is not under
    10        their control.  I merely observe that Mr. North's relevant
    11        visits were made in August which is, frankly, ages ago.
    12        I do not know what his difficulties are.  I have absolutely
    13        no idea.  Plainly, we are not going to embark in any
    14        serious way on a sort of hygiene issue in respect of the
    15        matters which he has investigated until we have his
    16        statement -- we cannot.
    17
    18        The only effect of his not serving his statement is that
    19        the whole thing is held up.  I would suggest that, perhaps,
    20        a better terminus would be the end of the first week of the
    21        term which, I think, is 13th January.
    22
    23   MS. STEEL:  Perhaps if we just tell him that it has been
    24        indicated that he should serve it.
    25
    26   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  I will make a direction -- it is not a
    27        final order -- that you serve a statement of Mr. North by
    28        Friday, 13th January.  You can perfectly correctly tell him
    29        it has been taken out of your hands and that is the order
    30        which the Judge has made.
    31
    32   MR. MORRIS:  I think with Miss Link that is a slightly different
    33        kettle of fish because there is quite a substantial amount
    34        of documentation on packaging which she will not have seen,
    35        and it may take her time to go through.  She has only
    36        agreed to do it last week in any event.  As we have already
    37        heard, most of the packaging evidence and Mr. Bateman is
    38         --  I believe the Plaintiffs are saying that once they
    39        have seen her statement then they will be calling him at
    40        some stage afterwards.
    41
    42   MR. RAMPTON:  No, I did not say that.  I would consider whether
    43        I needed to call him so soon as I have Miss Link's
    44        statement -- I may not need to.
    45
    46   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I am minded to do is make a direction
    47        that her statement be served by Monday, 31st January.
    48        I pick that date because it is a date I put on Further and
    49        Better Particulars and it is better to have fewer dates.
    50        So, that is the same date as the order in relation to 
    51        Further and Better Particulars to be served by the 
    52        Plaintiffs.  It is not connected in any way with those 
    53        Further and Better Particulars, but it is with a view to
    54        better remembering when these things are due.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  The matter of the Plaintiffs' affidavits, we now
    57        have them and, obviously, we will have to check them and
    58        come back to those.
    59
    60        The schedule -- it looks like we will finish today -- and

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