Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v L C Beagley 12 April 2013 – Decision dated 12 April 2013

hearingid: 6d89f549eee8f09a906453ed28ac2443

informantnumber: A1869

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startdate: no date provided

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decisiondate: 21/04/2013

hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v L C Beagley 12 April 2013 - Decision dated 12 April 2013

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appealdecision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION

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Decision:

NON RACEDAY INQUIRY

HRNZ v Miss L C Beagley

Informant: Mr S W Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
Defendant: Miss L C Beagley - Holder of Licence to Train
Information No: A1869
Meeting: Timaru Harness Racing Club
Date: 12 April 2013
Venue: Addington
Race: N/A
Rule No: 303 (2)
Judicial Committee: R G McKenzie, Chairman - K G Hales, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted

RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION

FACTS:

At the race meeting of Rangiora Harness Racing Club held at Rangiora on Sunday, 7 April 2013, Information No. A1869 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, against holder of Licence to Train, Miss L C Beagley, alleging that Miss Beagley did misconduct herself “by pushing Licensed Amateur Driver, Paul Wallace, in the stable block”.

The information was filed with the Registrar on the raceday and the hearing was adjourned by the raceday Judicial Committee “to a date to be fixed by the JCA”. The information was served on Miss Beagley, who signed the Statement by the Respondent at the foot of the information form indicating that she admitted the breach, on 10 April 2013.

The information was subsequently set down by the JCA for hearing at the meeting of Timaru Harness Racing Club held at Addington Raceway, Christchurch, on Friday, 12 April 2013, and was heard at that meeting.

Miss Beagley was present at the hearing of the information and she confirmed that she admitted the breach.

Rule 303 provides as follows:

(2) No person or body who holds a permit or licence under these Rules and no owner, trainer, breeder, stablehand, unlicensed apprentice or racing manager shall misconduct himself or fail to comply with any request, direction or instruction of any Stipendiary Steward, Racecourse Inspector or Starter.

SUBMISSIONS:

Mr Wallis presented a Summary of Facts to the hearing as follows:

1. Miss Beagley is the licensed trainer of UP WHEELS which raced in Race 1, The Bishopdale & Bush Inn TAB’s Amateur Drivers Mobile Pace, at the Rangiora Harness Racing Club’s meeting at Rangiora on 7 April 2013.

2. After the running of this race, Stewards were made aware, by means of a complaint, that an altercation had taken place in the stabling enclosure when Licensed Amateur Drivers, Ray Reekie and Paul Wallace, became involved in a heated debate.

3. Stewards after conducting interviews with several witnesses established that Mr Reekie’s and Mr Wallace’s respective horses were tied up next to each other and were being ungeared and, during this process, an argument took place between the two.

4. The argument did not involve Miss Beagley and should not have been of any concern to her. Miss Beagley, who was positioned two stalls away from Mr Wallace, then made a conscious decision to actively engage herself in the argument and stern words between the three parties were exchanged.

5. Mrs Beagley elected to position herself between the two parties and, towards the end of this argument, has shoved Mr Wallace. Soon after this, the altercations between all parties then subsided.

6. During the interview with Miss Beagley, she admitted in the first instance she had intervened in the argument when it was not her place to do so and, during this intervention, had contacted Mr Wallace in the shoulder area.

7. Stewards say that the conduct of Miss Beagley, in this instance, is clearly not befitting of a licensed professional horsewoman and is completely unacceptable.

Miss Beagley told the Committee that her actions had been provoked by Mr Wallace making a “taunting remark” to her. He had suggested to her that she was too scared to drive her own horse in the Amateur Drivers’ race that day. Miss Beagley explained to the hearing that she had relinquished the drive, on raceday morning, for medical reasons. She admitted that she had gone over and pushed Mr Wallace following the remark. She suggested that her reaction may have been affected by her medical condition, as she is not normally an aggressive person. She accepted that the altercation between Messrs Wallace and Reekie was none of her business and she should have kept out of it.

Miss Beagley described the contact as “a two-finger push” with her left hand (she is right-handed) to Mr Wallace’s right shoulder, in the region of his collar bone. She was surprised to hear Mr Wallace allege, afterwards, that she had actually struck him. She strongly denied that she had struck him. Mr Wallace made no reaction to the contact, Miss Beagley said.

Mr Wallis told the Committee that Mr Wallace reported that he was struck quite forcefully in the chest area. Mr Reekie, when interviewed, could not recall any physical contact being made.

DECISION:

Ms Beagley having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.

PENALTY SUBMISSIONS:

Mr Wallis informed the Committee that Miss Beagley has held a licence to train from Harness Racing New Zealand since 2007 and has started a total of 78 horses in totalisator races during that period. She has a clear record, with not even an official warning.

He submitted that any charge of misconduct against a Licenceholder must be regarded as serious and a deterrent penalty should be imposed to deter others. He submitted that a fine of no less than $500 was appropriate. This submission had regard to Miss Beagley’s admission of the breach at the first opportunity, that the incident took place in an isolated part of the stabling area and not in an area open to the public, her clean record and her acceptance that her actions were totally unacceptable, Mr Wallis said.

Mr Wallis referred to Miss Beagley’s cooperation and the “professional manner” in which she conducted herself throughout the inquiry.

Miss Beagley asked the Committee to consider a lower fine than that submitted by Mr Wallis. She submitted to the Committee a reference from Mr Gavin Cook, Chairman of the New Zealand Amateur Drivers’ Association. Mr Cook said that Miss Beagley had “always displayed the highest levels of integrity and can be counted on to be honest and truthful”. He also stated that “it is inconceivable to me that her [Miss Beagley’s] actions toward Mr Wallace were anything other than to gain his attention as Miss Beagley has never displayed any violent traits during my association with her”.

Miss Beagley also asked the Committee to have regard to the fact that she was a “hobby trainer” and did not make any money out of harness racing.

REASONS FOR PENALTY:

Miss Beagley has admitted a charge that, at the Rangiora Racecourse on 7 April 2013, she misconducted herself by pushing Licensed Amateur Driver, Mr Paul Wallace, in the stable block area.

We heard that, leading up to the incident, there had been an altercation in the stable block area between two Amateur Drivers, who had driven in Race 1 at the meeting, Mr Ray Reekie and Mr Paul Wallace, in which Miss Beagley became involved. She told us that, when she intervened, Mr Wallace had insulted her which provoked her into pushing or prodding him.

At this point, we have Mr Wallace reporting to the Stewards that Miss Beagley had pushed him in the incident. Miss Beagley has told us that it was no more than a “prod” on the shoulder with two fingers, which she demonstrated to us.

We found Miss Beagley to be quite credible.

The degree of force is relevant to penalty. Of course, we could not determine this definitively as Mr Wallace was not present at the hearing. We have concluded that the degree of force used was probably somewhere between the prod as stated by Miss Beagley and the push as alleged by Mr Wallace.

In any event, it was an assault, albeit a minor one, and there is no place in harness racing for such behaviour. Miss Beagley has, to her credit, admitted that she did make physical contact with Mr Wallace and thereby misconducted herself.

In arriving at penalty, we have had regard, as mitigating factors, to Miss Beagley’s early admission of the breach and her previous excellent record. We noted the contents of the character reference from Mr Gavin Cook. We also had regard to the amount of force which we referred to earlier in this decision.

It is also of significance that the incident took place out of the view and earshot of any members of the public and so minimising any damage to the integrity of and public confidence in harness racing.

Further, we have regarded Miss Beagley’s becoming involved in an altercation which, by her own admission, was none of her business as an aggravating factor and we have taken this into account.

Mr Wallis has submitted for a fine of not less than $500. We consider that the matter can be adequately dealt with by a fine of less than that amount having regard to all of the factors referred to.

We believe that, considering all factors, a fine of $200 is appropriate

sumissionsforpenalty:

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penalty:

Ms Beagley is fined the sum of $200.

R G McKenzie               K G Hales
CHAIRMAN                   COMMITTEE MEMBER

12 April 2013
 

hearing_type: Non-race day

Rules: 303(2)

Informant: Mr S W Wallis - Stipendiary Steward

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Respondent: Miss L C Beagley - Holder of Licence to Train

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