Mr. McMahon went into the water, and he too collected a large number of items in a net bag, and these were attributed the number KM4 in the list that I have mentioned.
The scenes of crimes officer who was present at the scene gave his evidence. That was Mr. Philip Smith. He told us he had been at Coniston on that day. He had received items from Mr. Brookes and Mr. McMahon. He said the items were emptied into bags of a bin liner type. He personally tied the ends and labelled then. He said he did this in the police van, and care was taken to ensure that items were not put in the bags mistakenly. He identified the label signed by Mr. Brookes. He then took the bags back to Barrow Police Station, where he handed them to Mr. Burns, Detective Constable Nigel Burns the exhibits officer in the case, and we also heard from Mr. Burns. He said that on the 30th of September he was on duty. He was informed that articles from the lake were being brought back to him. He received them from Mr. Smith, and they included the bags KM4 and PDB 5, two black bin bags. Each he said was labelled with a Cumbria police exhibit label. He locked them in the secure store. He said that PDB5 seemed to be a considerable weight, and he commented to a colleague in jest, speculating that there was another body in it.
In cross-examination he agreed with Mr. Edis that wet items are heavier than dry items, but nonetheless he maintained that PDB 5 was appreciably heavier than KM4. He said he did not open the bags at that stage. He noted the items in the register, and there they remained for another five days until the 4th. On that day Mr. Burns handed the bags to another officer, Mr. Thomas, who also gave evidence, for the purpose of opening them up and splitting the items in it. So far as the clothing in the bags was concerned, they had to be dried out. There was a cycle store that was press ganged into service as a store for these items. It had been cleared out, and he said that the bags were still knotted and tied when given to Mr. Thomas for splitting, although Mr. Burns was not present when that was done.