Reefton TC 6 March 2016 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA13339
Meet Title:
Reefton TC - 6 March 2016
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2016/03/06
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Butt having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Butt’s Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 6 March 2016, up to and including 10 April 2016 – 8 meetings. The meetings intended to be encompassed by the term of suspension are Timaru HRC at Addington on 10 March, Waimate TC at Oamaru on 13 March, Addington on 18 March, Methven TC on 20 March, Addington on 26 March, 1 April and 8 April and Banks Peninsula TC on 10 April.
In addition, Mr Butt was fined the sum of $1,000.00.
For the sake of clarity, we confirm that the combined penalty of a suspension and a fine is intended to equate to 52 drives.
Facts:
Information No. A3644 was filed by Racing Investigator, Mrs K R Williams, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr R J Butt, alleging that Mr Butt, “presented himself at 12.24pm within one hour prior to the start of the race in which he was engaged to drive, namely Race 2 (Reefton Trotting Club Life Members Pace), and committed a breach of the Rules of Harness Racing as he recorded a breath alcohol level greater than 100 mcg, namely 314 mcg [of alcohol per litre of breath]”.
Mr Butt was present at the hearing of the information, and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 513 provides as follows:
(4) A horseman commits a breach of these rules who presents himself or herself within 1 hour prior to the start of the race in which he or she is engaged to drive or who drives in a race commits a breach of these rules if he or she: -
(c) has a breath alcohol level greater than 100 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath (0.02%).
Mrs Williams said that she had requested Mr Butt to present himself at the Stipendiary Stewards’ room for alcohol testing prior to the start of the race meeting. A sample of breath was taken from Mr Butt at 12.24pm which returned a reading of 314 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. A second test was conducted one minute later which gave a reading of 325. This was accepted by Mr Butt, Mrs Williams said. The first reading of 314 was being relied on in this case, Mrs Williams said.
The Committee noted that Mr Butt was engaged to drive the horse, DIOS DEL FUEGO, in Race 2 which was scheduled to start at 1.00pm.
Mrs Williams referred to the Rule which provided for a maximum allowable reading of 100 mcg/l. As Mr Butt had clearly committed a breach of the Rule, he was immediately stood down from his engagements for the day, she said.
Mr Butt said that he had been out on the previous evening with some owners and friends. He had had some drinks (beer and spirits), obviously too many, he said. He had two meals the previous night. He got home at 1.00-1.30am on Sunday morning. He had been alcohol-tested on a number of previous occasions.
Mrs Williams said that a random selection of 14 drivers had been alcohol tested during today’s meeting.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mrs Williams told the Committee that Mr Butt had admitted the breach at the first opportunity. She submitted that an appropriate penalty was a suspension for 6 weeks and a fine of $1,000 in line with the penalty in the Orange case. Mr Orange’s reading was “slightly over” that of Mr Butt, Mrs Williams said. Mr Butt drives approximately half of the number of drives that Mr Orange does. He has had 90 drives in the current season to date, and had a total of 220 drives in the 2014/2015 season. By way of comparison, Mr Orange has had 464 to date this season and a total of 755 and 765 in the 2014/2015 and 2013/2014 seasons respectively.
Mr Butt said that he was in a position to pay a fine should the Committee decide on a mixed penalty of a suspension and a fine, as in the Orange case. He said that he would wish any term of suspension to start immediately. He would be intending to drive at all upcoming meetings in Canterbury meetings and at Oamaru on 13 March.
Reasons for Penalty:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee derived considerable assistance from the penalty decision of the Judicial Committee in the recent case of Orange from Central Otago TC on 2 January last. Like Mr Butt, Mr Orange admitted the breach and had not previously breached the Rule.
In that case, the Judicial Committee arrived at a penalty equivalent to 56 drives, which they implemented by way of a 5 days’ suspension which they took to be, in Mr Orange’s case, 35 drives. The fine of $1,050 in the Orange case was taken as equivalent to a further 21 drives, bringing the penalty up to 56 drives. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees (Effective 1 May 2015) provides that “a judicial committee is to equate 1 drive with a fine of $50”.
We were told, and we accept, that Mr Butt has, on average, 3-4 drives per meeting. We noted that he was to have had 4 drives at this meeting. On the basis of 4 drives per meeting, which is what we have applied, we have arrived at, what we consider to be, an appropriate figure of 52 drives – an 8 meetings’ suspension (32 drives) and a fine of $1,000 (20 drives).
In arriving at this penalty, we have taken into account that Mr Butt’s breath alcohol level was lower, though not significantly lower, than that of Mr Orange (334 mcg/l). Having said that, Mr Butt’s breath alcohol level was well in excess of the allowable limit under the Rule and high enough to be of real concern. We also record that we were impressed by Mr Butt’s frankness in admitting his offending and his genuine remorse.
Finally, we record that, in calculating penalty, we have not included Mr Butt’s four drives at this meeting as part of any period of suspension and, in this respect, we differ from the view taken by the Judicial Committee in Orange. This Committee is of the view that the penalty of being stood down from his drives at this meeting was a penalty imposed by the RIU which followed as a consequence of Mr Butt’s elevated breath alcohol reading. We believe that any penalty that we impose should only apply from after the close of racing.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 6506255092435725e7f5bb75e5e4679f
informantnumber: A3644
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excess Breath Alcohol
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 09/03/2016
hearing_title: Reefton TC 6 March 2016 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Information No. A3644 was filed by Racing Investigator, Mrs K R Williams, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr R J Butt, alleging that Mr Butt, “presented himself at 12.24pm within one hour prior to the start of the race in which he was engaged to drive, namely Race 2 (Reefton Trotting Club Life Members Pace), and committed a breach of the Rules of Harness Racing as he recorded a breath alcohol level greater than 100 mcg, namely 314 mcg [of alcohol per litre of breath]”.
Mr Butt was present at the hearing of the information, and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 513 provides as follows:
(4) A horseman commits a breach of these rules who presents himself or herself within 1 hour prior to the start of the race in which he or she is engaged to drive or who drives in a race commits a breach of these rules if he or she: -
(c) has a breath alcohol level greater than 100 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath (0.02%).
Mrs Williams said that she had requested Mr Butt to present himself at the Stipendiary Stewards’ room for alcohol testing prior to the start of the race meeting. A sample of breath was taken from Mr Butt at 12.24pm which returned a reading of 314 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. A second test was conducted one minute later which gave a reading of 325. This was accepted by Mr Butt, Mrs Williams said. The first reading of 314 was being relied on in this case, Mrs Williams said.
The Committee noted that Mr Butt was engaged to drive the horse, DIOS DEL FUEGO, in Race 2 which was scheduled to start at 1.00pm.
Mrs Williams referred to the Rule which provided for a maximum allowable reading of 100 mcg/l. As Mr Butt had clearly committed a breach of the Rule, he was immediately stood down from his engagements for the day, she said.
Mr Butt said that he had been out on the previous evening with some owners and friends. He had had some drinks (beer and spirits), obviously too many, he said. He had two meals the previous night. He got home at 1.00-1.30am on Sunday morning. He had been alcohol-tested on a number of previous occasions.
Mrs Williams said that a random selection of 14 drivers had been alcohol tested during today’s meeting.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Butt having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mrs Williams told the Committee that Mr Butt had admitted the breach at the first opportunity. She submitted that an appropriate penalty was a suspension for 6 weeks and a fine of $1,000 in line with the penalty in the Orange case. Mr Orange’s reading was “slightly over” that of Mr Butt, Mrs Williams said. Mr Butt drives approximately half of the number of drives that Mr Orange does. He has had 90 drives in the current season to date, and had a total of 220 drives in the 2014/2015 season. By way of comparison, Mr Orange has had 464 to date this season and a total of 755 and 765 in the 2014/2015 and 2013/2014 seasons respectively.
Mr Butt said that he was in a position to pay a fine should the Committee decide on a mixed penalty of a suspension and a fine, as in the Orange case. He said that he would wish any term of suspension to start immediately. He would be intending to drive at all upcoming meetings in Canterbury meetings and at Oamaru on 13 March.
reasonsforpenalty:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee derived considerable assistance from the penalty decision of the Judicial Committee in the recent case of Orange from Central Otago TC on 2 January last. Like Mr Butt, Mr Orange admitted the breach and had not previously breached the Rule.
In that case, the Judicial Committee arrived at a penalty equivalent to 56 drives, which they implemented by way of a 5 days’ suspension which they took to be, in Mr Orange’s case, 35 drives. The fine of $1,050 in the Orange case was taken as equivalent to a further 21 drives, bringing the penalty up to 56 drives. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees (Effective 1 May 2015) provides that “a judicial committee is to equate 1 drive with a fine of $50”.
We were told, and we accept, that Mr Butt has, on average, 3-4 drives per meeting. We noted that he was to have had 4 drives at this meeting. On the basis of 4 drives per meeting, which is what we have applied, we have arrived at, what we consider to be, an appropriate figure of 52 drives – an 8 meetings’ suspension (32 drives) and a fine of $1,000 (20 drives).
In arriving at this penalty, we have taken into account that Mr Butt’s breath alcohol level was lower, though not significantly lower, than that of Mr Orange (334 mcg/l). Having said that, Mr Butt’s breath alcohol level was well in excess of the allowable limit under the Rule and high enough to be of real concern. We also record that we were impressed by Mr Butt’s frankness in admitting his offending and his genuine remorse.
Finally, we record that, in calculating penalty, we have not included Mr Butt’s four drives at this meeting as part of any period of suspension and, in this respect, we differ from the view taken by the Judicial Committee in Orange. This Committee is of the view that the penalty of being stood down from his drives at this meeting was a penalty imposed by the RIU which followed as a consequence of Mr Butt’s elevated breath alcohol reading. We believe that any penalty that we impose should only apply from after the close of racing.
penalty:
Mr Butt’s Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 6 March 2016, up to and including 10 April 2016 – 8 meetings. The meetings intended to be encompassed by the term of suspension are Timaru HRC at Addington on 10 March, Waimate TC at Oamaru on 13 March, Addington on 18 March, Methven TC on 20 March, Addington on 26 March, 1 April and 8 April and Banks Peninsula TC on 10 April.
In addition, Mr Butt was fined the sum of $1,000.00.
For the sake of clarity, we confirm that the combined penalty of a suspension and a fine is intended to equate to 52 drives.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 513(4)(c)
Informant: K R Williams, Racing Investigator
JockeysandTrainer: R J Butt, Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 2fc59428489a5afe83a7dfedb21a05e9
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race_title: R2
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meetdate: 06/03/2016
meet_title: Reefton TC - 6 March 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
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tracklocation: reefton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
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name: Reefton TC