Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 12

     
     1   MR. RAMPTON:  They have had it for at least a fortnight.  We now
     2        come to Mr. Skehel's cross-examination.  Mr. Morris is
     3        quite clearly, by the posture from which he is asking
     4        questions, reading detailed notes.  We have had no notice
     5        of any of this.
     6
     7   MR. MORRIS:  This is something ------
     8
     9   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What are you aiming at now?
    10
    11   MR. MORRIS:  I am trying to damage the credibility of the
    12        witness.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Again, I do not think you are.
    15
    16   MR. MORRIS:  I am.
    17
    18   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not leave my common sense and brains at
    19        home when I come into court.  I do not think you are.  You
    20        have not asked Mr. Skehel a single question about the
         substance of his evidence and the issues which really
    22        matter.  You have not found whether you can make any ground
    23        at all on the substance of his statement.  You have just
    24        gone into a series of incidents which no one has heard of
    25        before, which do not appear to me to relate to his
    26        credibility or reliability, which might relate to questions
    27        of health and safety and store hygiene.
    28
    29        If you had given notice of them, either by seeking leave to
    30        amend your particulars of justification or serving a
    31        statement with the incidents in, neither of which courses
    32        you have taken ------
    33
    34   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  Well, the reason I am doing this first -----
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Quite frankly, much rope though I am prepared
    37        to give you, it is stretching my credulity too far to say
    38        that you are doing it as a challenge to credibility.
    39        I just cannot wear that.
    40
    MR. MORRIS:  My entire questioning is geared towards
    42        credibility.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not accept that, and I do not want you
    45        to put any specific incident with regard to health and
    46        safety or hygiene at Ipswich to this witness until such
    47        time as you have sought leave to amend to bring it into the
    48        case as an issue of hygiene or health and safety, or have
    49        produced a statement of a witness, whereby under the (I am
    50        beginning to think increasingly unfortunate) arrangement we 
    51        made that matters in statements should be treated as if 
    52        they were pleaded, it will be treated as if it was 
    53        pleaded.  That decision was as much my responsibility as
    54        anyone else's, but I am living to regret it.  Do accept my
    55        ruling on the point, Mr. Morris.
    56
    57   MR. MORRIS:  If the witness knows something about this
    58        incident -- if he does not know anything about it, I accept
    59        what you said before -- but if he knows something about it,
    60        surely it is just practical to deal with it.