the northern half of the compound at the time the tunnel was discovered. Person 5 gave the following evidence:
So after you made your way to the area which is marked L, [a point in the northern half of the compound proper] what then happened?---I saw a member of Person 29's patrol. I asked him if that area was clear. He said "Yes", and then I moved back to the tunnel.
Can you recall who that person was?---Yes, Person 42.
396 It was never put to Person 42 in cross-examination that at the time the tunnel was discovered, he was at the location that Person 5 marked with the letter "L" on exhibit A194.
397 Person 42 was a member of Person 29's patrol. The respondents submit that given that it is, on any view, clear that all members of Person 29's patrol were in the vicinity of the tunnel when it was discovered, and no motive for lying whatsoever could be attributed to Person 42, there is no reason not to accept Person 42's evidence as summarised above.
398 Person 43 was a patrol commander. His 2IC was Person 72 and the other members of his patrol were Persons 98, 3, 108 and 109. He described setting up a cordon and then a cordon and callout being completed. The cordon was set up on the south-western aspect. Two patrols made entry and once they had finished clearing the compound, they would call in the other patrols for a commanders' briefing. The commanders (troop headquarters) on that day were Persons 81 and 82.
399 Person 43 could not recall precisely where the meeting was to take place. He said that there was a lot of bomb damage to the compound. He could not recall the area other than to say it was an open area so that it would have been on, "probably, the – the eastern end of that building". He described the process where "[we] were getting ready to have a commanders' brief and everybody else was involved in the SSE process" when he saw Person 35 kick over some green hay or straw whilst he was doing his SSE and he noticed immediately that he "had spotted something and his weapon was pointed down at a hole, a tunnel entrance …". Person 43 immediately ran over to provide assistance. It was not expressly put to Person 43 that these aspects of his evidence were wrong and, as the respondents point out, a positive alternative case was not put to Person 43 as to where he was when the tunnel was discovered. The respondents pose the question as to whether it is being said by the applicant that the compound had not been declared secure and thus that Person 43 remained outside the compound at the relevant time. Alternatively, the respondents pose the question of whether it is being said by the applicant that the Commanders' RV had been called, but was being held in
