Day 198 - 08 Dec 95 - Page 12
1 tried to use this, and he tried to get her to say in
2 statements to say that I had done it, when it was obvious
3 that I had not done it. He was pressuring people at the
4 time them to use this as an excuse to get rid of me.
5
6 Q. You knew, did you not, Mr. Coton, that if Sally Spurgeon
7 turned Queen's evidence, if I may call it that, that you
8 would get it in the neck because, in fact, you and she had
9 been doing it all along, had you not?
10 A. We had all been doing it all along, which is why we
11 would actually -- when we were told: "If you carry on
12 doing it, you will be disciplined", we stopped. As soon as
13 we were threatened with discipline for carrying it on, the
14 practice was stopped, or it was told to be stopped. But I
15 have never ever said that we did not do it before that. So
16 I cannot see the point you are making here. I mean, I have
17 always admitted, as a store, as a procedure, it was
18 something that was done through my whole term.
19
20 Q. I promise you, you will see the point that I am making in a
21 moment, Mr. Coton. Mr. Skehel was appointed as Supervisor
22 at the beginning of February 1991, was he not?
23 A. I believe so, yes.
24
25 Q. That was to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Mark Davis?
26 A. That was correct, yes.
27
28 Q. Who became a Senior Supervisor and left the area?
29 A. Correct.
30
31 Q. Did you hope that you would get Mr. Davis' post when he
32 left?
33 A. About six months before he left I hoped, but within the
34 last six months -- it has already been documented -- I was
35 not performing as well as I had been, so I knew that it
36 would not be me that got the position.
37
38 Q. Your last performance review from Mr. Davis which was in
39 November 1990 was a very bad one, was it not?
40 A. It was critical, yes.
41
42 Q. It was said, in effect, apologetically, that it was an
43 "assassination" -- do you remember that word?
44 A. I cannot remember that word.
45
46 Q. We need not look it up. It is there. Were you
47 disappointed that you were not made Supervisor in
48 Mr. Davis' place?
49 A. No, because I knew that I had not performed enough to
50 get it.
51
52 Q. Was it after your letter of resignation that some big wigs
53 came down and, as it were, begged you to stay on?
54 A. It was after I resigned that I had three visits, I
55 believe, where I was asked not to leave.
56
57 Q. Asked?
58 A. Not to leave.
59
60 Q. Not to leave, yes. What was their reason for asking you
