Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 10

     
     1        are sort of talking about here, and I am guessing as to
     2        what you are talking about.  But I think Tara dismissed
     3        some crew who were stealing some stock on the close in
     4        their holdalls; and she did a very good job of following it
     5        up and sorting the situation out.  I do not see what the
     6        point you are making is, though.
     7
     8   Q.   Did she ensure that Mike Buckley was sacked, the Store
     9        Manager, for fiddling figures about stock?
    10        A.  Did she what?
    11
    12   Q.   Was Mike Buckley sacked as a Manager?
    13        A.  Yes, he was.
    14
    15   Q.   Was he sacked under her supervision?
    16        A.  I do not know.  I thought I sacked him, but there you
    17        go.
    18
    19   Q.   You sacked him?
    20        A.  I thought so, yes.
    21
    22   Q.   Are you sure?
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  He said, "I thought I did".
    25
    26   THE WITNESS:   Pretty much.  I seem to remember speaking to him
    27        on the day that it happened.
    28
    29   MR. MORRIS:  Right -- for fiddling the stock figures?
    30        A.  Yes -- twice; he was let off the first time.
    31
    32   Q.   Could that have been one of the mistakes that were being
    33        referred to?
    34        A.  Not really.
    35
    36   Q.   Something else?
    37        A.  I think that was agreed with by my superiors.  I would
    38        not have considered dismissal or disciplinary action
    39        without consultation with my superiors.
    40
    Q.   Did you investigate why Mike Buckley was fiddling the stock
    42        figures?
    43        A.  Well, I mean, I asked him.
    44
    45   Q.   What was your conclusion?
    46        A.  That he found it very difficult to cope with telling
    47        the truth about the situation.
    48
    49   Q.   He was under pressure to achieve food cost targets which he
    50        could not meet if material was being stolen, but, rather 
    51        than talk about that, he covered it up? 
    52        A.  No.  I think that whilst Mike was the Manager of 
    53        Clacton, I gave him ample opportunity and gave him plenty
    54        of assistance and direction and guidance as to what he
    55        could do to improve his food cost.  I suggested if he
    56        fiddled his food costs that he only made the situation
    57        worse, in that it would be more difficult for us to detect
    58        where the problem lay.  I understand that Richard Norris
    59        was probably -- now, I think that Richard Norris was
    60        probably the Manager when Tara was the Supervisor.  So it