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Fallon race-fixing case collapses





The case against Kieren Fallon for race-fixing dramatically collapsed today, leaving the six-time champion jockey free to ride in Britain again.

Fallon and five other men were acquitted by a jury on the directions of trial judge Mr Justice Forbes, who said there was no case to answer following defence submissions at the end of two months of prosecution evidence.

All had denied conspiracy to defraud in connection with an alleged plot to fix races between December 2002 and September 2004. Fallon, who was banned from horseracing in Britain pending the outcome of the trial, and the others were alleged to have plotted to stop 27 horses running on their merits so a betting syndicate could win money when they lost.

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The prosecution alleged that Fallon, 42, and two other jockeys, Fergal Lynch, 29, and Darren Williams, 29, had phoned or texted another man, Miles Rodgers, a former racing syndicate director, on the day of the races to tell him which horse would not win.

Rodgers was accused of then betting against the horses. He pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of concealing the proceeds of crime. Lynch's brother, Shaun Lynch, 38, and barman Philip Sherkle, 42, also pleaded not guilty to fraud.

The trial rocked the sport, which attracts six million people every year in the UK. Fallon is one of its biggest stars, having won the Derby three times and the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe twice, most recently a day before the trial started in London.

A week ago, a police officer involved in undercover surveillance in Spain as part of the investigation told the jury he could not find the notebook in which he recorded details of the operation. Paul Starr told the court that he had noted down a conversation he said that he had overhead between Rodgers and Lynch at Malaga airport in August 2004.

In police interviews read to the court earlier, Rodgers denied knowing Fallon. He told Acting Detective Inspector Mark Manning that he had met the jockey a couple of times but said: "I don't know him at all, I know him as well as I know you now. I don't have a relationship with him."

Rodgers also denied making any phone calls or being involved in any "financial transactions" with the Derry-born jockey. His lawyers said the case was flawed based on evidence "taken out of context".

Fallon also denied knowing Rodgers but admitted texting co-defendant and professional gambler Sherkle - the alleged middleman - regarding horses he was to ride. He also said that he sends text messages to other people including footballer Michael Owen.
guardian

Kieren Fallon walks free
Jockey walks free as race fix trial collapses in farce




Former champion jockey Kieren Fallon walked free yesterday after his £10million trial on race fixing charges ended in fiasco.

Fallon and fellow jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams were accused of throwing 27 races in which they were backed to lose.

But a judge threw out the case because main prosecution witness, Australian racing steward Ray Murrihy, knew nothing about British racing rules and culture.

Outside court, Fallon, 42, suspended from racing in Britain for 17 months since his arrest, said: "I am of course relieved and delighted but outraged. There was never any evidence against me."

It later emerged that Det Insp Manning, who led the investigation, has been offered a job with the Horseracing Regulatory Authority. And the defence was not told until the trial started that British racing expert Jim McGrath thought there was nothing wrong with the races.

Police were called in after Fallon lost a race in March 2004 from an apparently impregnable lead.

They got Murrihy to look at videos of 93 races spread over 20 months.

The three jockeys were charged with conniving to defraud Betfair customers at 27 races on which alleged ringleader Miles Rodgers had bet £2.1million to lose.

Police suspected that Rodgers, 38, was laundering drugs money. But Fallon won five of the 17 races he was allegedly meant to lose costing Rodgers' syndicate £338,000.

Judge Mr Justice Forbes, sitting at the Old Bailey yesterday, said of Murrihy: "It is abundantly clear that his evidence fell far, far short of establishing a prima facie breach of UK racing rules.

"I have reached the conclusion that even if it was appropriate to admit Mr Murrihy's expert opinion... very little value can be attached to it."

Fallon from Tipperary; Lynch, and Williams, both 29, and from Boroughbridge and Leyburn, North Yorks; Lynch's driver brother Shaun, 37, from Londonderry, and barman Philip Sherkle, 42, of Tamworth, Staffs, were all cleared of plotting to throw races.

Rodgers, of Silkstone, South Yorks, was acquitted of concealing the proceeds of crime.

Six-times champion jockey Fallon is now free to ride again. He said: "I have always said I have never fixed a race. I am devastated at having lost over a year's racing, at possibly the most important time in my career."

Lynch said: "It's a massive weight off my shoulders.

"It has been a nightmare."

Williams said: "I will return to racing with my head held high."
Mirror

Fallon faces new controversy timesonline