Day 214 - 01 02 96 - Page 55

 
 

                                                                  DAY 214
 
                                           DAVID ROBERTS, Cross-examined:
 
 
 
     1
     2   Q.   So you did investigate?
     3        A.  Yes, I looked into it, yes.
     4
     5   Q.   And you took no action, I mean, against any individuals?
     6        A.  Everybody was spoken to which is action.
     7
     8   Q.   No-one admitted doing it?
     9        A.  No.
    10
    11   Q.   They did not.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  As I understand it, you are saying you saw
    14        asterisks; you found there had been changes but it was
    15        difficult to say whether they were bogus ones or had a
    16        genuine reason?
    17        A.  You could not ascertain whether it was a legitimate
    18        mistake by the crew member, or -- get a lot of -- if you
    19        have maybe 40, 50 crew working during the day, especially
    20        maybe within your crew, there will be mistake made on it.
    21        On their clocking in and out, they might make a mistake on
    22        their break or they forget to clock out or they forget to
    23        clock in.  That is when we have to actually change things
    24        for them.  If you have a lot of people working, you know,
    25        you might get 10 mistakes a day.
    26
    27   MR. MORRIS:  You are saying nobody owned up to this practice
    28        then?
    29        A.  No.  I spoke to the management team as a whole.
    30
    31   Q.   You did not interview each individual?
    32        A.  I did not have enough time to, you know, do an
    33        investigation in that detail when I took over the
    34        restaurant.
    35
    36   Q.   So despite what, apparently, is a fraudulent practice, an
    37        illegal practice, of altering people's official time
    38        records, you did not actually interview anybody
    39        individually?
    40        A.  At the time, the more important thing was to stop it
    41        rather than investigate what had happened in the past,
    42        because you can imagine there is probably quite a lot to do
    43        when you take over a restaurant.
    44
    45   Q.   A bit like John Nevison really?
    46        A.  Yes, I would imagine so.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you explain to me what was illegal about
    49        it?
    50        A.  For 18 year-olds to work -- under 18s to work over 
    51        midnight. 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  No, I mean the altering of the clock cards.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  I think you are at cross-purposes, I am
    56        afraid.  What Mr. Morris is suggesting, that you look
    57        through the clock card files, you see asterisks; I thought
    58        Mr. Morris was proceeding on the basis that some of those
    59        were and perhaps could be shown to be Managers wrongly
    60        docking crews' hours, i.e. altering them so at the end of
 
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