just saw on sky news there that they used moile phone conversations in the trial- surely thats an invasion by privacy by the oinkers??? whats the difference between that & phone tapping- oops said too much -probably monitoring my isp address
From the first day it doesnât look like they have much to go on against Fallon in particular.
He won plenty of the races theyâre accusing him of and it seems that much of the evidence might be based on general type information such as âsuch and such has no real chanceâ as opposed to âIâm not letting such and such win.â
Well the case has just been thrown out after defence got a say and the judge said there was no case to answer. There was feck all evidence presented which was a big problem for the prosecution. It came across as being someoneâs hunch or idea but they didnât back it up at all. Interesting to see him come back in the UK now - wonder can he sue them for loss of earnings:
Fallon trial collapses at Old Bailey
Friday, 7 December 2007 12:38
Six-time UK champion jockey Kieren Fallonâs race-fixing trial collapsed at the Old Bailey in London today.
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.
Fallon always denied involvement and his barrister asked the judge: âYou have to consider how much it would cost to buy Kieren Fallon.â
Fallon, fellow jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams, gambler and businessman Miles Rodgers and two other men had been accused of plotting to throw races.
But the âfatal flawâ in the 6million case was that no one was able to prove the jockeys had interfered with horses.
The only expert witness called was Australian racing steward Ray Murrihy, who admitted he was not an expert on British horseracing. The case against the men was that they were trying to break Jockey Club rule 157 by stopping horses racing on their merits.
But Mr Murrihy said he was not familiar with the rules in the UK, was only giving his opinion on the riding and could not say what the outcome of a stewardsâ inquiry would have been.
The jury also heard that Fallon had a higher win-rate in the races he was allegedly meant to throw than his average. City of London police, who had been asked to investigate by the Jockey Club, came under constant criticism throughout the case.
It emerged that the then Commissioner of the force had approached a director of the Jockey Club - now the British Horseracing Authority - about more funding for the inquiry, which is thought to have cost around 3million.
And it also emerged that the main detective in the case had been offered a job with the BHAâs investigation unit. The prosecution said there was no evidence that Fallon profited from the alleged scam.
He was said to have ended up owing a betting syndicate money.
The accused were said to have plotted to stop 27 horses winning between December 2002 and August 2004, thereby defrauding Betfair internet customers and other punters.
The prosecution said large amounts of money had been bet on the horses losing after a series of phone calls and text messages involving the jockeys.
Fallon was said to have ridden in 17 of the allegedly fixed races and won five of them - a higher win rate than his normal average.
The betting syndicate run by Rodgers was said to have wagered 2.1million on horses to lose, making between 60,000 and 143,000.
But Fallon was alleged to have owed the syndicateâs backers 338,000 by winning the five races. Fallon, 42, Lynch, 29, and Williams, 29, Lynchâs driver brother Shaun Lynch, 38, gambler and businessman Rodgers, 38, and barman Philip Sherkle, 42, of were all cleared on the directions of the judge.
Rodgers was also found not guilty of concealing the proceeds of crime. All the defendants were on bail.
Fallonâs QC, John Kelsey-Fry, had asked the judge to throw out the case against him because the prosecution had failed to âcome closeâ to making a case against the jockey.
He said the races which Fallon lost yielded only small returns for alleged plotters - in one case just 3,000.
He said: âThere is simply no case to answer. None of the strands of evidence individually or collectively amount to a case to answer.
The evidence presented by the prosecution when properly analysed has demonstrated that Kieren Fallon was not a party to a conspiracy to defraud.â
Bandage Senior will be delighted. The man idolises Fallon.