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The second limb of the plaintiff's case against the defendant on the question of ralice stems from the plaintiff's belief that he had every qualification to pass and yet is the only one of the class to be rejected although the others were mostly less fitted to be selected than he was. Mr. Donnelly stresses the fact that this court is not entitled to propound upon what experienced senior. police officers regard as "officer quality" and of course he is right. But the plaintiff seeks to show that his record prior to going to join Class PI45 at the Police Training School and his performance there were not merely adequate or average but were in fact outstandingly good and furthermore vere well known to the defendant to be 'so. He relies on this as fortifying his contentions as to the defendant's dishonesty. He points out that several of the 26 witnesses he called gave evidence to support him at least in the sense that they said that they knew nothing adverse to his character and he drew attention to some of the entries in his personal dossier (Exhibit F.3). He repeats in this regard his assertion that he was invariably in the first three candidates in the course tests and he points out of course I should add, that he was successful in certain examinations held a long time prior to that; that he came first in an observation test held as soon as he joined the course; that he had previously passed a Standard II Examination which was a higher standard of examination than that which he was required to pass upon the course and that for the pre-selection course he had obtained a high mark, he would maintain he was in the first place although there was no independent evidence of that. All of those matters he presents ce background to his contention that his excellence as prospective officer was apparent. But if one looks at this abundant material in full, even with the most sympathetic eye, to my mind the overwhelming effect of it is to call in question the very thing which he believes is to have demonstrated. In saying that I am, of course, offering no opinion myself upon the quality of the plaintiff or upon the desirability of his being an inspector it would be quite wrong of te to do so, but I am very sure that nobody reading that record and hearing the testimony which has been tendered in court could come to the conclusion that the consensus about him among his colleagues and superior officers had previously been that he was of exceptional promise or of singular attainments. Some of those who have dealt with hir have spoken well of him, a few very well, though usually with some degree of reservation on the question of his temperament. N Here have been unenthusiastic, some have been distinctly adverse. 140 or three have suggested that he had the stuff of the inspectorate in him - again opinions usually expressed with reservations. But there is to my mind a remarkable and significant continuity in the general tone of his Cossier and the contents of the several reports he now impugns and the evidence given in this court and this continuity of tone renches up to and includes the alleged libel documents. To this must be added the fact that none of the witnesses called in this action not even those who spoke favourably of his character - supported his testimony about coming amongst the first three candidates in the tests and the documentary evidence vas, of course, directly to the contrary. Any witness to whom such a question was directly addressed invariably answered that that was not so. It was essential to this part of the plaintiff's argument that a consensus could be shown which was not merely favourable but enthusiastic so that what happened in the end could be seen as in stark and inexplicable S contrast to what went before. By any reckoning his own demonstration
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fell far short of that.
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Finally there were those particuler items on which the plaintiff relied to show malice, this time in its more familiar sense of spite or discourtesy or unjustified disfavour. There is firstly the failure to
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prefix his name with the letters P.I. as was usually done with the other
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