Late witness statement

Roberts and others v Williams and others CA SJ 27 May

The claimants alleged that the defendants had encroached on a right of way by placing materials and building a wall upon the land in dispute. The defendants denied the allegations and counterclaimed on the basis that the claimant had trespassed on the land. The defendants relied in part upon alleged assurances made by a solicitor acting for the claimants that the intended works to be carried out on the land would be permissible. Six weeks before the commencement of the trial the second defendant sought to adduce a witness statement in which she alleged that the assurances given by the claimants’ solicitor had been repeated in two telephone conversations. The district judge, upheld by a circuit judge, refused to allow the further evidence on the ground that to do so would have required the adjournment of the trial and that the statement raised a new issue.