Day 146 - 03 Jul 95 - Page 05

     
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     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  At the moment it seems to me it is entirely a
     3        matter for you as it is your property.
     4
     5   MR. RAMPTON:  I am grateful for that.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Whether it is at the end of the day a good
     8        idea may or may not be another thing, but I have no power,
     9        have I, at the moment in the matter?  You have invited me
    10        to give an indication.  I will hear what Ms. Steel and
    11        Mr. Morris want to say, if anything, about it in due
    12        course, but I have absolutely no power in the matter.
    13
    14   MR. RAMPTON:  I was not suggesting your Lordship had; quite the
    15        contrary, it is quite a grave step to have to take and,
    16        plainly, the views of the Judge in charge of the case would
    17        have considerable weight in the decision-making process
    18        both in London and in Oak Brook.
    19
    20        Then I pass from that to scheduling.  Our present
         intention, my Lord, is to start Mr. Frank Stanton on
    22        Thursday of this week, the 6th.  I will examine him
    23        in-chief and finish him during the course of that day,
    24        probably about the mid-day adjournment, perhaps just
    25        afterwards.  I will not be here, as your Lordship was kind
    26        enough to excuse me, either on Friday 7th or Monday 10th.
    27        So we will not put another witness in-chief in before
    28        Tuesday, 11th.  Mr. Atkinson's capable hands will mind the
    29        shop until then.
    30
    31        On Tuesday 11th we will call Mr. Mark Davies, who is the
    32        other Colchester witness so far as we are concerned.
    33        I have put him down for three days.  My Lord, thereafter
    34        I can tell your Lordship the names of the witnesses who we
    35        intend to call before the end of term.  I cannot at the
    36        moment give your Lordship a precise running order, but will
    37        undertake to do that as soon as possible; I hope within the
    38        next two days, while we are still in chambers.
    39
    40        Their names -- this is in no particular order -- are Ramish
         Ravalia, Annette Hall.
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Could you spell the first one?
    44
    45   MR. RAMPTON:  R-A-V-A-L-I-A, Ramish is his first name.  He, my
    46        Lord, is perhaps a valuable witness from your Lordship's
    47        point of view because he is a licensee.  I will call him to
    48        describe the relationship, as he sees it, between himself
    49        and the Company.  My Lord, then there is a lady called
    50        Annette Hall; then there is Florence Farrer F-A-R-R-E-R, 
    51        Tony Giardina, who is Italian, G-I-A-R-D-I-N-A; then a new 
    52        witness in circumstances which I will tell your Lordship 
    53        about in a minute called Almaz A-N-T-E-N-E-H.  She, my
    54        Lord, arises out of the realisation which, I confess, had
    55        not previously struck me but did when I saw that film,
    56        found its date, the film "One Every Mile" and was told
    57        which two restaurants it related to.  She was, in fact, the
    58        manageress of the Strand restaurant at the time when that
    59        film was made.
    60