Day 245 - 07 May 96 - Page 10
1 Q. Right. He said in fact that the material which the
2 customers recycled was actually dumped by the Company and
3 nothing was done with it. Would you accept, therefore,
4 that that was a lie put out as propaganda by the Company in
5 the Mcfact card?
6 A. No, I do not think it was. I think some material was
7 actually made from foam packaging that we collected by,
8 I think it was Lynn Packed Plastics, or one of their
9 subsidiaries. It did not go very far, the difficulty being
10 getting customers to separate in the first place, but
11 I think we actually made a few items from the separated
12 plastics.
13
14 Q. That was a different scheme. That was Manchester. This
15 was the Nottingham scheme that went on for a number of
16 years in the Nottingham area?
17 A. That could be, I am not sure.
18
19 Q. Right. Do we accept that Eddie Oakley would know about
20 that matter, being in charge of purchasing materials?
21 A. I am not sure it was his project but he would probably
22 be familiar with it, sure.
23
24 Q. If what he said is correct, and he did, he said it on oath
25 in the witness box, would you accept that, therefore, if he
26 is correct, that that would be a lie? The impression that
27 you are giving there is a lie to the public?
28 A. No, I do not accept that.
29
30 Q. If we go to the next Mcfact card, if it is not a lie, as
31 you say -- sorry accepting that, let us assume what
32 Mr. Oakley said is true.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause there, because this is going to be
35 hopeless if all you are going to do is go through what
36 various witnesses have said. If the witness can recall it
37 being said, he may be able to give some useful comment on
38 it, otherwise he can just either say from his own knowledge
39 that he accepts it is untrue, or that it is not untrue,
40 otherwise it is just a comment you have to put to me in due
41 course that: Look at the fact Mcfact card. You say it
42 does not accord with the evidence, you say McDonald's own
43 evidence. Therefore, you say to me that the Mcfact card is
44 misleading.
45
46 But I want wonder just how productive it is asking a
47 witness what he makes of someone else's evidence and unless
48 you are going to refer him to it chapter and verse so he
49 can see what was said and then ask him what, if any,
50 comment he has to make about it.
51
52 One of the difficulties, Mr. Morris, in a long case is that
53 unless you actually refer the witness to the part of the
54 transcript and say: "Look, this is what Mr. Oakley says",
55 I am not sure you have it right; I am not sure it is all
56 there. I am not suggesting you are trying to mislead in
57 any way, but I feel very unsecure about the absolutely
58 accuracy of the summary you are putting and, in any event,
59 the witness does not know that that is what a previous
60 witness has said.
