Day 209 - 25 Jan 96 - Page 04

     
     1        we served these documents on the Defendants at the
     2        beginning of November last year.
     3
     4        Mr. Morris was then going to go down to Bath later that
     5        week to see Mr. Logan, when we had two days out of court --
     6        the Thursday and the Friday, I think it might have been, or
     7        the Wednesday and the Thursday -- and if there are to be
     8        matters raised by Mr. Logan on the documents without any
     9        notice to us, I am afraid to say I shall have to object to
    10        that because it does seem to me to be quite intolerable,
    11        considering it was the beginning of November, considering
    12        also that since then there has been very nearly a month, as
    13        it were, break from court.
    14
    15   MR. MORRIS:  Do I need to come back on that?
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I want to wait and see where we got to.
    18        I will say no more at this stage.
    19
    20   MR. MORRIS:  I did bring this up three or four times at the
         beginning of this week, just to say that that was my
    22        intention and there was no objection.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    25
    26   MR. MORRIS:  For that reason, we could cut short the reference
    27        to documents with the other witnesses.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, maybe we can; maybe we have been able
    30        to.  I want to see what happens.  The one thing I want to
    31        avoid is just using -- it may not be what you have in mind
    32         -- Mr. Logan as a cipher to draw my attention to documents
    33        which speak for themselves, if you see what I mean?  If
    34        Mr. Logan has a particular knowledge of something happening
    35        because it happened while he was there, and he can refer to
    36        a document which you would argue or you could refer him to
    37        a document which you would argue in due course offers some
    38        support for what he is saying, well and good.  But what
    39        I do not want you to do is to take time to use Mr. Logan,
    40        as it were, as an advocate just to point to how people are
         actually scheduled when you can do a little note of that
    42        which can be put before me in due course and I can look at
    43        the documents myself.  Do you understand the distinction?
    44
    45   MR. MORRIS:  I do, yes.
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Mr. Logan is a witness as to fact and that is
    48        his sole position in this case.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  Yes, but, I mean, he can help the court about, you 
    51        know, these documents have been disclosed as an educational 
    52        aid to the court to see how a store runs and monitors 
    53        itself, whatever.  So I would hope that it would be helpful
    54        to the court if he can -----
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  As I said a few moments ago, let us see how
    57        we go.  But I do not want him just to be an extension of
    58        what you want to say.
    59
    60   MR. MORRIS:  No.