Day 086 - 09 Feb 95 - Page 06

     
     1
     2                       (The witness withdrew)
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes?
     5
     6   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I rose when I did because I have heard
     7        some questions (and anticipate others) directed to an area
     8        of knowledge and responsibility, if there is any, which
     9        plainly this witness cannot have for two reasons:  First,
    10        as he said, he knows nothing of the incident except by
    11        report or hearsay; second, he was not in his present post
    12        at the time when the accident occurred, which was in
    13        October 1992; third, there is ample opportunity for your
    14        Lordship to hear, whether by way of evidence-in-chief or by
    15        way of cross-examination, detailed factual evidence about
    16        the circumstances in which the accident occurred, amongst
    17        other things.  Leaving the Plaintiffs' evidence on one
    18        side, the Defendants propose to call the person who, to put
    19        it neutrally, did the wiring that led to the accident  ---
    20
    MR. MORRIS:  That is not neutrally at all.
    22
    23   MR. RAMPTON:  -- whose name ---
    24
    25   MR. MORRIS:  He is a witness to the accident, yes.
    26
    27   MR. RAMPTON:  -- is Chapman.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  These might all be reasons why there is
    30        no point in Mr. Morris asking about the circumstances of
    31        the accident from the point view of the witness' knowledge,
    32        but he may be on to something else, you see; how
    33        information gets passed around and things like that, for
    34        all I know.
    35
    36   MR. RAMPTON:  That is perfectly permissible, does the company
    37        attend to the obvious consequences of such an accident?
    38        There is an abundance of documentation about that.  He can
    39        ask of his knowledge of that; what he cannot do, in my
    40        respectful submission, is to ask him anything about the
         accident itself because he does not know.
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Thank you.
    44
    45   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, further I would say the first question
    46        which Mr. Morris asked was plainly out of order.  This
    47        witness is not in a position to answer whether or not the
    48        company accepts responsibility for the accident.  I do not
    49        remember whether Mr. Preston was cross-examined about this
    50        incident.  It may be that he was; certainly he can be in 
    51        the future. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, that may be so.  You can tell me because
    54        the witness is not here, what are you seeking from this
    55        witness, Mr. Morris, with regard to this?
    56
    57   MR. MORRIS:  I am seeking to see if the company take their
    58        responsibilities seriously, and if their procedures are in
    59        fact carried out at a store level and if they learnt from
    60        criticism that is made of them.