Day 106 - 23 Mar 95 - Page 26
1 occasions when the Plaintiffs have brought up things in
2 evidence-in-chief where there was no indication that was
3 going to be brought up.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You have said this so many times I have lost
6 count, that when a valid point is taken against something
7 you have done, you have suggested that McDonald's have done
8 the same thing. I am not satisfied that you have always
9 been right about that, but even on occasions when you may
10 have been right, as I have said to you, you are entitled to
11 take the point and I will deal with it.
12
13 Whether you are right about that or not, it must be
14 absolutely plain to you, I am not going to stop the
15 evidence coming out, but it brings everything grinding to a
16 halt because it is right on an allegation which was made in
17 the leaflet. Your own witness, on the face of the
18 disclosed statement, torpedoes it completely and then in
19 the witness box (and I do not know whether he is right or
20 wrong at the moment) says something which, far from
21 torpedoe'ing it, positively supports it.
22
23 We have had lots changes of view over matters which are so
24 peripheral, one would have to climb a high mask to see them
25 over the horizon. But, here we have something which is
26 spot on a specific allegation in the leaflet with a
27 complete change of view -- making no allegation against
28 Mr. North because one will have to see what comes at the
29 end of the day, but a complete change of view -- since 28th
30 July 1993, when the statement, which, as you know, is
31 served in order to give notice of what the witness proposes
32 to say, was made.
33
34 Where are we going to go from here? (To the witness): You
35 say there is scientific support for this, do you,
36 Mr. North?
37 A. Indeed.
38
39 Q. That, presumably, is in publications which one could look
40 at?
41 A. One could at fairly short notice get you some
42 supporting documentation.
43
44 MR. MORRIS: Can I just say that, I think it was Mr. Kenny,
45 certainly one of McDonald's representatives, accepted that
46 pesticide residues are prevalent in cattle and accepted
47 that he had concerns about links between pesticide residues
48 and human health.
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I listened very carefully to the extent of
51 his evidence. My preliminary view -- you can address me on
52 it in due course -- was that it did not support the terms
53 of what is in the leaflet. When I read these statements
54 I see where they might take me, and you can see what is in
55 that sentence in Mr. North's statement.
56
57 What I am going to do is I am going to allow the matter to
58 go on but, if I am to attach any weight to it at all, one
59 must see the scientific support for it. It is an issue
60 which can be isolated on its own from the rest of what may
