Waimate Trotting Club 16 December 2012
ID: JCA12954
Meet Title:
Waimate TC - 16 December 2012
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2012/12/16
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly Mr White was fined the sum of $250.
Charge:
Breach of Rule 303(2)-Misconduct
Facts:
An Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against Amateur Horseman, Mr A White, alleging a breach of Rule 303(2), in that he used offensive language towards another horseman in the drivers' room.
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named Informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 303(2) in that you used offensive language towards another horseman in the drivers room in the presence of other horsemen.”
Rule 303(2) reads as follows:
“(2) No person or body who holds a permit or licence under these Rules and no owner, trainer, breeder, stable hand, 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 for Decision:
Mr White had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr White also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Wallis gave evidence that a heated argument had occurred in the drivers’ room between Mr White and another amateur horseman in the presence of other horsemen.
Mr Wallis submitted that Mr White had brought the matter to the Stewards attention and was remorseful about what had taken place.
Mr White explained that this argument had arisen from an accusation that an amateur driver had been to the Stipendiary Stewards and commented that Mr White was putting Amateur Drivers in disrepute by making a celebratory gesture with the whip on winning a race. Mr White believed that if there was an issue with his celebratory gesture the Stewards would be the ones to sort it out. Mr White admitted that he got into a heated argument with this Amateur Driver, was loud and had used offensive language towards the other driver. This argument went on for some time. Mr White admitted that he lost his cool and “gave it to him”. He also admitted using four letter swear words during this lengthy argument.
Reasons for Decision:
As Mr White had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis submitted that Mr White should be given credit for coming forward to report his actions, had been totally cooperative throughout the proceedings and for admitting the breach. Mr Wallis submitted that the JCA penalty guidelines, for a breach of this Rule, states that for a relatively minor breach of this Rule a starting point of a $200 fine be considered. Mr Wallis submitted that due to the mitigating factors above that a fine of $200 be considered.
Mr White made no submissions on penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty we took into consideration Mr White’s ready admission of the breach, his forthright manner in dealing with the Stewards and the fact that he brought the matter to the Stewards' attention. Aggravating factors were that the level of offensive language used was high, that the argument was witnessed by other horsemen and there was the possibility that the argument may have been overheard by members of club staff or public. The JCA Penalty Guide states that a relatively minor breach of this Rule should start with a $200 fine. A more serious breach for grossly offensive behaviour has a starting point of a $500 fine. The Committee believes that this breach was mid-range with a fine of $300 being appropriate. However taking into consideration the mitigating factors submitted, the Committee believes that a discount of $50 should be given in this case. Therefore it was decided that a fine of $250 be imposed.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
Dmitry: This section contains all JCA fields migrated from the raw data.
Data from these fields should be mapped appropriately to display amongst the standard fields above; please make note of any values below that are missing in the above standard fields but should be there.
hearingid: 6debbd698044c3e07abe78ecea1b3e18
informantnumber: A1855
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/12/2012
hearing_title: Waimate Trotting Club 16 December 2012
charge:
Breach of Rule 303(2)-Misconduct
facts:
An Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against Amateur Horseman, Mr A White, alleging a breach of Rule 303(2), in that he used offensive language towards another horseman in the drivers' room.
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named Informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 303(2) in that you used offensive language towards another horseman in the drivers room in the presence of other horsemen.”
Rule 303(2) reads as follows:
“(2) No person or body who holds a permit or licence under these Rules and no owner, trainer, breeder, stable hand, 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.”
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr White had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr White also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Wallis gave evidence that a heated argument had occurred in the drivers’ room between Mr White and another amateur horseman in the presence of other horsemen.
Mr Wallis submitted that Mr White had brought the matter to the Stewards attention and was remorseful about what had taken place.
Mr White explained that this argument had arisen from an accusation that an amateur driver had been to the Stipendiary Stewards and commented that Mr White was putting Amateur Drivers in disrepute by making a celebratory gesture with the whip on winning a race. Mr White believed that if there was an issue with his celebratory gesture the Stewards would be the ones to sort it out. Mr White admitted that he got into a heated argument with this Amateur Driver, was loud and had used offensive language towards the other driver. This argument went on for some time. Mr White admitted that he lost his cool and “gave it to him”. He also admitted using four letter swear words during this lengthy argument.
reasonsfordecision:
As Mr White had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis submitted that Mr White should be given credit for coming forward to report his actions, had been totally cooperative throughout the proceedings and for admitting the breach. Mr Wallis submitted that the JCA penalty guidelines, for a breach of this Rule, states that for a relatively minor breach of this Rule a starting point of a $200 fine be considered. Mr Wallis submitted that due to the mitigating factors above that a fine of $200 be considered.
Mr White made no submissions on penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty we took into consideration Mr White’s ready admission of the breach, his forthright manner in dealing with the Stewards and the fact that he brought the matter to the Stewards' attention. Aggravating factors were that the level of offensive language used was high, that the argument was witnessed by other horsemen and there was the possibility that the argument may have been overheard by members of club staff or public. The JCA Penalty Guide states that a relatively minor breach of this Rule should start with a $200 fine. A more serious breach for grossly offensive behaviour has a starting point of a $500 fine. The Committee believes that this breach was mid-range with a fine of $300 being appropriate. However taking into consideration the mitigating factors submitted, the Committee believes that a discount of $50 should be given in this case. Therefore it was decided that a fine of $250 be imposed.
penalty:
Accordingly Mr White was fined the sum of $250.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 303(2)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr A White-Advanced Amateur Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: fc718a749d0e1bbc6da10c282a8c09f0
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 16f4433bb89a2d11e84d59e114c76ade
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/12/2012
meet_title: Waimate TC - 16 December 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: waimate-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Waimate TC