The final witness was Booth himself.Hyde (1960) p.64 He stated that he would never have asked for a 10% commission on the Birmingham contract and that he had never claimed that he could influence government ministers. Hastings showed the jury that both statements were lies, first by showing the piece of paper Booth had scribbled the "Birmingham contract" memo on and then by showing a telegram from Booth to Gruban in which Booth claimed that he "[had] already spoken to a Cabinet Minister and high official".
