Day 122 - 05 May 95 - Page 09

     
     1
     2   MS. STEEL:  Yes, I think so.
     3
     4                MR. SIDNEY THOMAS NICHOLON, recalled.
     5             Cross-examined by the Defendants, continued.
     6
     7   MS. STEEL:  You made both these statements on 7th June; is that
     8        right?
     9        A.  I made one statement.  That was the one that was served
    10        on you, and, from that, was extracted the second statement.
    11
    12   Q.   When was that done?
    13        A.  I cannot remember, but that was done by Barlow Lyde and
    14        Gilbert.
    15
    16   Q.   So you did not sign two statements on the same day?
    17        A.  I cannot remember now.  I am sorry, I really cannot
    18        remember.
    19
    20   Q.   Who wrote your statements?
         A.  I think I dictated them to Mrs. Brinley-Codd; I cannot
    22        remember really.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The normal procedure, in any case of more
    25        than the simplest form, is that a solicitor takes notes or
    26        talks to the potential witness and then goes away ---
    27
    28   THE WITNESS:  Drafts a statement.
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- and drafts a statement, sends it back to
    31        them or meets them and makes any alterations which the
    32        potential witness wishes to make?
    33        A.  I am sure that is what happened.
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is normal procedure anyway.
    36
    37   MS. STEEL:   Do you know anything about Mark Hopkins, the events
    38        of Mr. Hopkins, other than hearsay information?
    39        A.  No, only what I read in the report.
    40
    Q.   As an ex-Police Officer, you would be well aware of hearsay
    42        rules, would you not?
    43        A.  Yes.
    44
    45   Q.   So did you ----
    46        A.  Well, I would still have been guided on them by someone
    47        with legal training.  I know of the hearsay rules and
    48        I have been, on many occasions, found to be in
    49        contravention, as I was this time.  So I need to be guided
    50        on them. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Was it your suggestion that the section on Mr. Hopkins went 
    53        into the statement, or was it the suggestion of the
    54        solicitors?
    55        A.  I think I was asked what I knew about it, and I told
    56        them what I remembered from reading the reports that I had
    57        called for.  Then I think the decision was made that the
    58        person who investigated it, who is a witness in the case,
    59        would be more appropriate to deal with that particular
    60        subject than I.