Day 111 - 30 Mar 95 - Page 08
1
2 MR. RAMPTON: No, my Lord; this will not do. Mr. Morris led
3 that evidence deliberately and I see that Mr. Ehrlichman
4 has made one of his rare appearances in court.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He may or may not have done that. By and
7 large, what someone has told you is not evidence of the
8 truth of what they are saying. All you need say in answer
9 to the question is that they required someone of experience
10 and what they said is not evidence and, therefore, has to
11 be put on one side. I daresay it slips out now and again,
12 but if it does and objection is taken, there we are.
13
14 MR. MORRIS: (To the witness) But it was a clause in the
15 contract?
16 A. Yes, it was a clause in the contract, in the tendered
17 documents.
18
19 Q. If I may ask, why was it particularly important to have
20 someone of great experience?
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you can answer that question without
23 saying what someone else said to you, answer it; if you
24 cannot, do not answer it. I start from the presumption
25 that if you can possibly find someone of experience to do
26 the job which is required, then you will look for such a
27 person. Clearly, if there is EC certification there, then
28 they may well be looking for someone who is acquainted with
29 what is required for such an abattoir and that, I will
30 assume. But you must not say what someone else told you.
31
32 MR. MORRIS: What I am saying is that when you started work
33 there you had some job specifications or instructions of
34 what you were being expected to do.
35
36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Did you have a written job description or
37 specification?
38 A. No, I spent a day at the Council offices in Kingswood.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just say what you understood your job to be?
41 A. I spent a day there. I was shown all the documents
42 relating to all the inspections and the meetings that had
43 been held at Jarretts and concerning that.
44
45 MR. MORRIS: Previously, the history of it?
46 A. Yes, the history of the plant. I was briefed by the
47 bring Environmental Health Office and the Senior Meat
48 Inspector about the situation at Jarretts. They then gave
49 me advice on how to -----
50
51 Q. What I am saying is, whether it is a verbal contract or a
52 written contract -----
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: All Ms. Hovi need say is what she understood
55 her duties to be?
56 A. I understood very much that my ----
57
58 MR. MORRIS: What were you expected to do?
59 A. Well, I understood very much that I was expected to
60 improve the standards at Jarretts.
