Day 100 - 09 Mar 95 - Page 22

     
     1
     2   MS. STEEL:  What are the other two incidents that you recall?
     3        A.  I believe there was an under-cooked Chicken McNugget in
     4        Burnley.
     5
     6   Q.   Burnley?
     7        A.  Yes, I think that was, yes.
     8
     9   Q.   When was that?
    10        A.  I think I am right.
    11
    12   Q.   Do you remember roughly what year it was?
    13        A.  That would have been a couple of years ago.
    14
    15   Q.   The third one?
    16        A.  The third one was an under-cooked Chicken Sandwich and
    17        that was at Sutton, I think it was.
    18
    19   Q.   That was on 6th August 1990, you pleaded guilty to an
    20        offence under Section 2 of the Food Act for selling a raw
         chicken sandwich; would that be right?
    22        A.  I believe so.  I was not involved in that case but
    23        I believe that to be true.
    24
    25   Q.   So you were not involved in the investigation surrounding
    26        that?
    27        A.  I was not involved in the -- I was not involved at all
    28        in the court case where I was in the other two instances so
    29        I have a much clearer, well, slightly clearer memory of
    30        those two.  I am sure our department was involved in the
    31        Sutton investigation.
    32
    33   Q.   The other two incidents then, can you just tell us a bit
    34        more about what you recall about them?
    35        A.  The under-cooked quarter pounder at Tottenham Court
    36        Road was heard at Wells Magistrates Court, as you said, and
    37        we appealed against the decision there and went to Crown
    38        Court where the decision in the Magistrates Court was
    39        overruled in favour of McDonald's.
    40
    Q.   On what grounds was that?
    42        A.  It was under due diligence defence.
    43
    44   Q.   What does that mean?
    45        A.  Well, basically, under the 1990 Food Safety Act, if you
    46        can prove that you take all reasonable precautions and show
    47        all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence,
    48        then you are acquitted.
    49
    50   Q.   So, although the burger was under-cooked, they thought that 
    51        it was down to the fault of a member of staff, or something 
    52        like that? 
    53        A.  We, as a company, took every possible precaution we
    54        could to avoid that under-cooking happening.  I think it
    55        was described as a freak occurrence -- something that we
    56        had no control over.
    57
    58   Q.   You investigated this, did you?
    59        A.  I was involved in the investigation, yes.
    60