Fallon 'involved in race-fixing scam'

Former champion jockey Kieren Fallon was involved in a plot in which he and two other jockeys agreed to cheat in 27 races to make horses lose, the Old Bailey has heard.

Fallon, who rode Dylan Thomas to victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France on Sunday, was in the dock to hear the charge read to the jury.

The six defendants, including jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams, deny being part of a race-fixing scam.

Fallon, 42, formerly of Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, but now of Tipperary, Ireland, Fergal Lynch, 29, of Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, and Darren Williams, 29, of Leyburn, North Yorkshire, deny the charges.

Lynch's brother Shaun Lynch, 37, of Belfast, former racing syndicate director Miles Rodgers, 38, of Silkstone, South Yorkshire, and Philip Sherkle, 42, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, have also pleaded not guilty.

They are charged with conspiracy to defraud between December 2002 and September 2004 by interfering with the running of horses to ensure they lost races, defrauding Betfair punters and others putting money on the races.

Rodgers is also accused of concealing the proceeds of crime.

Jonathan Caplan QC, prosecuting, told the court: "This case concerns a serious allegation of fraud.

"It is unusual because it is also concerned with sport and any allegation of fraud in that context obviously undermines the integrity of the sport in question."

He said the 27 races were run on various dates and in different parts of Britain.

Mr Caplan said: "The prosecution case is that there was an unlawful agreement or conspiracy between these defendants and other persons that those races should be fixed.

"The defendants in this case did not fix races to ensure a particular horse won. On the contrary, they fixed the races to ensure that the horses in question lost.

"The object of the conspiracy was to wager large amounts of money on a particular horse to lose in each of those races whilst knowing that the jockey was prepared, if necessary, to cheat by stopping the horse."

Mr Caplan told the court that the betting was organised and conducted by Rodgers, who had numerous accounts in different names with Betfair.

"He was the organiser of this conspiracy and was the one who was most involved," said Mr Caplan.

"On race days, Rodgers had direct contact by mobile telephone with Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams.

"Kieren Fallon was more cautious and Rodgers had indirect contact with Fallon using an intermediary, Shaun Lynch, to a lesser extent Fergal Lynch, and latterly, Philip Sherkle."

Mr Caplan said the jury would be invited to look at all the circumstances of the case and "at the pattern which we say clearly emerges from them".

He said that "there was a criminal conspiracy in operation to fix numerous horse races in this country to the detriment of the betting public, and that this conspiracy was only brought to a close by the arrests of these defendants".

Mr Caplan told the jury that the aim of the conspiracy was for Rodgers to wager "very large amounts of money" on a horse to lose, knowing that the jockey "was prepared to cheat by using tactics on course to stop the horse if it was likely to win".

But he added: "The plan was not foolproof because you could not always stop the horse if, in the particular circumstances, it would look too obvious.

"A horse race is a dynamic event and anything can happen. But the plan worked most of the time."

On Favour, ridden by Fallon, Rodgers wagered £100,000 to win just over £12,000; on Romil Star, ridden by Williams, he bet £92,000 to win £16,000; and on CD Europe, ridden by Fergal Lynch, nearly £36,000 for £2,000, Mr Caplan said.

These bets by Rodgers usually amounted to just over 50 per cent of the Betfair market in that particular race, he told the jury.

"The pattern of contact by mobile phone on race days was nearly always the same, whichever jockey was riding," he said.

"The jockey would call or text Rodgers, or Fallon would call or text the intermediary, who would then almost instantaneously contact Rodgers, and Rodgers would then begin to lay the horse on Betfair.

"This system of contact confirmed that the jockey was ready and able to try and stop the horse. This gave Rodgers the confidence to lay sizeable amounts of money."

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