Non Raceday Inquiry – RIU v M Purdon 20 January 2012 – Decision dated 25 January 2012
ID: JCA14852
Decision:
BEFORE A JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
HELD AT CHRISTCHURCH
IN THE MATTER of Information No. A5474
BETWEEN KYLIE ROCHELLE WILLIAMS, Racing Investigator for the Racing Integrity Unit
Informant
AND MARK PURDON, Licensed Public Trainer
Respondent
Date of Hearing: Friday, 20 January 2012
Venue: Judicial Room, Addington Raceway, Christchurch
Judicial Committee: R G McKenzie, Chairman - J M Phelan, Comittee Member
Date of Decision: 25 January 2012
DECISION OF JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
The Charge
[1] Mr Purdon is charged with a breach of Rule 418 of the New Zealand Rules of Harness Racing that he “failed to lodge a change of ownership for the horse I RAN after purchasing the horse at the PGG Sales on 16 February 2010”.
[2] Mrs Williams produced a letter (undated) (Exhibit “A”) signed by Mr M R Godber, Operations Manager of the Racing Integrity Unit, granting permission to file the information pursuant to Rule 1104 (4) (c).
The Plea
[3] Mrs Williams produced a copy of Information A5474 (Exhibit “B”). Mr Purdon had signed the Statement by the Respondent at the foot of the form acknowledging service of the information. She also produced a copy of a letter dated 11 January 2012 (Exhibit “C”) that she had written to Mr Purdon and on which Mr Purdon had signed a notice to the effect that he did not wish to appear at the hearing of the information.
The Rule
[4] Rule 418 of the New Zealand Rules of Harness Racing provides as follows:
(1) Notice of any change in the ownership of a registered horse shall be given in the prescribed form by the transferor and the transferee to the Chief Executive within 14 days after such change is effected and before the horse starts in any race; and where the change of ownership occurs by way of the sale of a horse which at the time of such sale is subject to a contingency, notice of such change shall forthwith be given by the seller to any person entitled to claim any benefit under such contingency. Under no circumstances will HRNZ accept any responsibility for failing to ensure that any transfer is subject to a contingency.
(5) Every person shall notify any such change as aforesaid within the time limit in that behalf , and every person who being required by this Rule to sign a notice of change of ownership, shall sign such notice.
The Facts
[5] Mr Purdon is a Licensed Public Trainer and Open Horseman.
[6] I RAN, a bay gelding (Western Terror-Putting On The Glitz), was sold to Mr Purdon through the PGG Premier Yearling Sale as Lot 65 for $50,000 on 16 February 2010. Mrs Williams produced a copy of tax invoice issued by PGG Wrightson Standardbred (Exhibit “D”) as evidence of the transaction.
[7] Mrs Williams also produced a copy of the Horse Details generated from the Harness Racing New Zealand website (Exhibit “E”). She pointed out that I RAN is still registered in the name of the breeder, Studholme Bloodstock Limited. No change of ownership of the horse has been registered with Harness Racing New Zealand, she said.
[8] Mr Purdon subsequently sold the horse through a yearling parade at his AllStars Racing Stable. A one-quarter share in the horse was purchased by a Mr Paul Murphy. Mrs Williams produced a copy of the tax invoice issued by AllStars Racing Stable in respect of the transaction (Exhibit “F”).
[9] Harness Racing New Zealand received a complaint in September 2011 from Mr Murphy advising that he owned a one-quarter share in I RAN but that he had never been forwarded the ownership papers to sign a transfer of the one-quarter share in the horse into his name. Mrs Williams said that Mr Murphy had paid all accounts for his share in the horse including, training, grazing, insuring and gelding prior to the horse being retired from the stable of Mr Purdon and his training partner, Mr G R Payne, and taken over by Licensed Trainer, Mr B E Fahey.
[10] No change of ownership has been lodged for the horse, I RAN, from the breeder Studholme Bloodstock Limited to Mr Purdon. A further transfer of the horse should have been registered with Harness Racing New Zealand into the new ownership, including Mr Murphy’s one-quarter share.
[11] Rule 418 requires that a notice of change of ownership be lodged with Harness Racing New Zealand within 14 days. Mr Purdon has clearly breached Rule 418, Mrs Williams alleged, and has admitted having breached the Rule.
Penalty Submissions by the Informant
[12] Mrs Williams referred to the Penalty Guide which recommended a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a fine of $250.
[13] Mrs Williams submitted that it was accepted that there was no “malicious intent” on Mr Purdon’s part in not notifying the change of ownership. It was not a deliberate failure to avoid disclosure. Mr Purdon had been “very forthcoming” in all questioning and had admitted the breach at the first opportunity.
[14] Mrs Williams submitted that the penalty provided in the Penalty Guide of a fine of $250 was an appropriate penalty for the breach.
The Penalty Rule
[30] The relevant penalty provision is contained in Rule 1003 (1) under the heading “General Penalties” and provides:-
A person who commits a breach of any Rule shall (subject to the provisions of Rule 111(1), 113(5), 451(3), 507(4), 1001 or 1004) shall be liable to the following penalties:
(a) a fine not exceeding $5,000.00; and/or
(b) suspension from holding or obtaining a licence for any specific period not exceeding five years; and/or
(c) disqualification for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Penalty Reasons
In determining penalty, the Committee took into account Mr Purdon’s admission of the breach. The Committee accepted Mrs Williams’ submission that there was no attempt to deceive on Mr Purdon’s part. We assessed the breach as being at the lower end of a scale of seriousness. We noted the recommended penalty of a fine of $250 in the Penalty Guide for “failure to notify change of ownership through negligence, ignorance of, or indifference to the Rules” and Mrs Williams’ submission that a fine of $250 was an appropriate penalty.
Penalty:
Mr Purdon was fined the sum of $250.
Costs
Mr Purdon had admitted the breach and the hearing of the charge was able to take place on a raceday. Accordingly, there will be no order as to costs.
R G McKENZIE J M PHELAN
Chairman Committee Member
Appeal Decision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION
Decision Date: 19/01/2012
Publish Date: 19/01/2012
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: 8416b7bfff147babfe7262ff2eb943aa
informantnumber: A5474
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 19/01/2012
hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry - RIU v M Purdon 20 January 2012 - Decision dated 25 January 2012
charge:
facts:
appealdecision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
BEFORE A JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
HELD AT CHRISTCHURCH
IN THE MATTER of Information No. A5474
BETWEEN KYLIE ROCHELLE WILLIAMS, Racing Investigator for the Racing Integrity Unit
Informant
AND MARK PURDON, Licensed Public Trainer
Respondent
Date of Hearing: Friday, 20 January 2012
Venue: Judicial Room, Addington Raceway, Christchurch
Judicial Committee: R G McKenzie, Chairman - J M Phelan, Comittee Member
Date of Decision: 25 January 2012
DECISION OF JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
The Charge
[1] Mr Purdon is charged with a breach of Rule 418 of the New Zealand Rules of Harness Racing that he “failed to lodge a change of ownership for the horse I RAN after purchasing the horse at the PGG Sales on 16 February 2010”.
[2] Mrs Williams produced a letter (undated) (Exhibit “A”) signed by Mr M R Godber, Operations Manager of the Racing Integrity Unit, granting permission to file the information pursuant to Rule 1104 (4) (c).
The Plea
[3] Mrs Williams produced a copy of Information A5474 (Exhibit “B”). Mr Purdon had signed the Statement by the Respondent at the foot of the form acknowledging service of the information. She also produced a copy of a letter dated 11 January 2012 (Exhibit “C”) that she had written to Mr Purdon and on which Mr Purdon had signed a notice to the effect that he did not wish to appear at the hearing of the information.
The Rule
[4] Rule 418 of the New Zealand Rules of Harness Racing provides as follows:
(1) Notice of any change in the ownership of a registered horse shall be given in the prescribed form by the transferor and the transferee to the Chief Executive within 14 days after such change is effected and before the horse starts in any race; and where the change of ownership occurs by way of the sale of a horse which at the time of such sale is subject to a contingency, notice of such change shall forthwith be given by the seller to any person entitled to claim any benefit under such contingency. Under no circumstances will HRNZ accept any responsibility for failing to ensure that any transfer is subject to a contingency.
(5) Every person shall notify any such change as aforesaid within the time limit in that behalf , and every person who being required by this Rule to sign a notice of change of ownership, shall sign such notice.
The Facts
[5] Mr Purdon is a Licensed Public Trainer and Open Horseman.
[6] I RAN, a bay gelding (Western Terror-Putting On The Glitz), was sold to Mr Purdon through the PGG Premier Yearling Sale as Lot 65 for $50,000 on 16 February 2010. Mrs Williams produced a copy of tax invoice issued by PGG Wrightson Standardbred (Exhibit “D”) as evidence of the transaction.
[7] Mrs Williams also produced a copy of the Horse Details generated from the Harness Racing New Zealand website (Exhibit “E”). She pointed out that I RAN is still registered in the name of the breeder, Studholme Bloodstock Limited. No change of ownership of the horse has been registered with Harness Racing New Zealand, she said.
[8] Mr Purdon subsequently sold the horse through a yearling parade at his AllStars Racing Stable. A one-quarter share in the horse was purchased by a Mr Paul Murphy. Mrs Williams produced a copy of the tax invoice issued by AllStars Racing Stable in respect of the transaction (Exhibit “F”).
[9] Harness Racing New Zealand received a complaint in September 2011 from Mr Murphy advising that he owned a one-quarter share in I RAN but that he had never been forwarded the ownership papers to sign a transfer of the one-quarter share in the horse into his name. Mrs Williams said that Mr Murphy had paid all accounts for his share in the horse including, training, grazing, insuring and gelding prior to the horse being retired from the stable of Mr Purdon and his training partner, Mr G R Payne, and taken over by Licensed Trainer, Mr B E Fahey.
[10] No change of ownership has been lodged for the horse, I RAN, from the breeder Studholme Bloodstock Limited to Mr Purdon. A further transfer of the horse should have been registered with Harness Racing New Zealand into the new ownership, including Mr Murphy’s one-quarter share.
[11] Rule 418 requires that a notice of change of ownership be lodged with Harness Racing New Zealand within 14 days. Mr Purdon has clearly breached Rule 418, Mrs Williams alleged, and has admitted having breached the Rule.
Penalty Submissions by the Informant
[12] Mrs Williams referred to the Penalty Guide which recommended a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a fine of $250.
[13] Mrs Williams submitted that it was accepted that there was no “malicious intent” on Mr Purdon’s part in not notifying the change of ownership. It was not a deliberate failure to avoid disclosure. Mr Purdon had been “very forthcoming” in all questioning and had admitted the breach at the first opportunity.
[14] Mrs Williams submitted that the penalty provided in the Penalty Guide of a fine of $250 was an appropriate penalty for the breach.
The Penalty Rule
[30] The relevant penalty provision is contained in Rule 1003 (1) under the heading “General Penalties” and provides:-
A person who commits a breach of any Rule shall (subject to the provisions of Rule 111(1), 113(5), 451(3), 507(4), 1001 or 1004) shall be liable to the following penalties:
(a) a fine not exceeding $5,000.00; and/or
(b) suspension from holding or obtaining a licence for any specific period not exceeding five years; and/or
(c) disqualification for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Penalty Reasons
In determining penalty, the Committee took into account Mr Purdon’s admission of the breach. The Committee accepted Mrs Williams’ submission that there was no attempt to deceive on Mr Purdon’s part. We assessed the breach as being at the lower end of a scale of seriousness. We noted the recommended penalty of a fine of $250 in the Penalty Guide for “failure to notify change of ownership through negligence, ignorance of, or indifference to the Rules” and Mrs Williams’ submission that a fine of $250 was an appropriate penalty.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
Mr Purdon was fined the sum of $250.
Costs
Mr Purdon had admitted the breach and the hearing of the charge was able to take place on a raceday. Accordingly, there will be no order as to costs.
R G McKENZIE J M PHELAN
Chairman Committee Member
hearing_type: Non-race day
Rules: 418
Informant: Ms KR Williams - Racing Investigator
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent: Mr M Purdon - Licensed Public Trainer
StipendSteward:
raceid:
race_expapproval:
racecancelled:
race_noreport:
race_emailed1:
race_emailed2:
race_title:
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid:
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport:
waitingforpublication:
meet_emailed1:
meet_emailed2:
meetdate: no date provided
meet_title:
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation:
meet_racingtype:
meet_chair:
meet_pm1:
meet_pm2:
name: