Two Statements at the Counter
Two staff statements describe an incident at a job centre counter on 14 May. Statement A, from a receptionist with eleven years' service: 'At about 10.20 the claimant raised his voice and refused to leave the window. I pressed the alarm after he had been there for ten minutes. Nothing was thrown.' Statement B, from a work coach with six months' service: 'Just after half past ten a man started shouting. He pushed a folder off the counter before the alarm went off. I would say he was there for less than five minutes.' The CCTV log records the alarm at 10.31. The footage is a wide-angle view of the lobby: the counter surface is partly out of frame, and nothing is seen falling to the floor. Neither statement records when the claimant arrived.
1. Set out where the statements agree and disagree, separating disputes of fact from differences of description.
Read the worked answer
Agreement:
- A man at the counter raised his voice or shouted.
- He was asked to leave or refused to leave.
- The alarm was pressed.
Disputed points, checkable:
- Whether a folder was pushed off the counter. Statement A says nothing was thrown; B says a folder was pushed off.
- When the alarm was pressed relative to any such push. The CCTV log fixes the alarm at 10.31.
Disputed, not checkable from the record:
- Duration. A implies ten minutes; B implies under five. Neither records an arrival time, so neither can be tested.
Differences of description rather than fact:
- 'About 10.20' and 'just after half past ten' need not conflict. One may mark arrival, the other the start of shouting.
'Raised his voice' and 'shouting' are the same conduct described at different strengths, and both witnesses accept it.
2. Does the CCTV footage establish that Statement B is wrong about the folder? Explain.
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No. It limits what B can be taken to mean, but does not settle the claim.
What the footage shows: nothing falling to the floor, from a wide angle, with the counter surface partly out of frame.
What follows:
- If B meant the folder landed visibly on the floor, the footage contradicts that.
- If B meant a gesture that pushed a folder along or off the counter edge, the camera may simply not have captured it.
- A's 'nothing was thrown' addresses throwing, not pushing. The two statements may not be in direct conflict at all.
The correct finding is that the folder dispute is unresolved, not that B is unreliable. Treating an absence of footage as proof of a false statement overstates the evidence.
3. Write a two-sentence summary for the review panel that does not overstate what is established.
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'The two statements agree that a claimant raised his voice at the counter and was asked to leave. They differ on how long he remained and on whether he pushed a folder from the counter; the alarm was pressed at 10.31, but the CCTV view does not cover the whole counter, so the folder dispute cannot be resolved from the footage.'
Why this version:
- It reports the agreed conduct without deciding who was at fault.
- It names the two unresolved points rather than picking a side.
- It states exactly what the footage does and does not show, so the panel is not invited to treat silence as proof.
- It contains no duration, because no arrival time was recorded and any figure would be invented.