Saturday 27 September 2008

london

I have a cold, I wish I did not have a cold, but there is little I can do about it, I wonder if I caught it off one of my clients during the week, I hope not, if I did, a cold is better than some diseases I meet, which some appellants seem only to happy to share
Such as the appellant who attended Court looking slightly worse for wear...I thought he was ill, this did not take a great deal of thought as he seemed to be trying to bring up a lung he was coughing so hard. Also he was ashen coloured and thin, very thin. I could not see much of his face as it was usually in his hands or between his legs. I was worried that he had TB, he had a pretty thin case in any event and I was going to have to cross examine him extensively and I did not relish the prospect of 2 hours sitting opposite him dodging bits of his lung as he answered questions.
Tactlfully (well for me anyway) I spoke to his rep (not a lawyer, given his inadequate grasp of both the English language and Court procedure), and gently enquired after the health of his client.
"He coughs a fair bit, what?"
"Yes"
"Has he got TB?"
"No, he is fine"
"Really, he seems to be doing a passable impression of a sick person"
"No, he is ok"
"There is lots of TB where he comes from"
"No, he is ok"
"Have you asked him?"
"No."
I was going to ask the rep what his medical qualifications were, but was frightened he make take me seriously and try to explain, so I returned to my paper, and the rep back into the (small) conference room, where he remained for an hour with his client.
An hour later, our case began, and surprisingly the appellant was still alive, and still coughing (a lot). It was a pity that he could not lie as well as he could cough, as he soon succombed either to my fantastic forensic questioning, or his poor memory. I decided to put to him his account was a pack of lies (useful legal term, defendants and appellants seem to understand the question, but invariably disagree with it though), to which he responded
"The reason I cannot remember is I am not well"
"What's wrong with you?"
"I have got TB"
and he had.
He had lots of letters from various hospitals to support this.
What added to the oddness of the day, was that when I applied to adjourn the hearing on the basis that the appellant was dying (or could be) and I did not want to, the Judge said
"Why"
At which point I informed the Court that either the appellant was going to leave the building or I was.
The appellant left the Court, and I went to hospital.

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