Adjourned Inquiry – LH Hofmann

hearingid: e80433bdb8375bd1a54f79be3da1d720

informantnumber:

horsename:

hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing

startdate: 01/01/2001

newcharge:

plea:

penaltyrequired:

decisiondate: no date provided

hearing_title: Adjourned Inquiry - LH Hofmann

charge:

facts:

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

This adjourned inquiry is resulting from an incident following Race 7 at the Te Aroha Jockey Club meeting at Te Aroha on the 19 October 2005.

This adjourned inquiry is resulting from an incident following Race 7 at the Te Aroha Jockey Club meeting at Te Aroha on the 19 October 2005. Miss Hofmann was charged ?

--
1. "That on Wednesday the 19^th October 2005 at the Te Aroha Racecourse, being a licensed jockey within the meaning of Rule 303 of the New Zealand Rules of Racing, you did misconduct yourself within the meaning of Rule 304 of the said rules in that following the running of Race 7 on the programme of the meeting of Racing Te Aroha whilst mounted on your horse on your way back to the birdcage did use insulting and obscene language directed at licensed jockey MJ Walker, namely the words "you black cunt" and that therefore you are liable to the penalty or penalties which may be imposed on you pursuant to Rule 1003 of the said Rules of Racing.
--
2. "You are further charged that on Wednesday 19^th October 2005 at the Te Aroha Racecourse, being a licensed jockey within the meaning of Rule 303 of the New Zealand Rules of Racing you did misconduct yourself within the meaning of Rule 304 of the said rules in that following the running of Race 7 on the programme of the meeting of Racing Te Aroha whilst mounted on your horse on your way back to the birdcage you did assault licensed jockey MJ Walker by deliberately striking him on his back with your whip and that therefore you are liable to penalty or penalties which may be imposed upon you pursuant to Rule 1003 of the said Rules of Racing."

At the commencement of the hearing Miss Hofmann pleaded guilty to the first charge, pursuant to Rule 303 and 304, involving obscene and insulting language.

On the second charge of assaulting Mr MJ Walker, pursuant to Rules 303 and 304, Miss Hofmann entered a not guilty plea.

Mr BF McKenzie, in his opening submissions, said that although Miss Hofmann pleaded guilty to the first charge he believed he should give some background to it as it did relate to the second charge.

He called Mr Walker as a witness, as the aggrieved party, to give evidence. Mr Walker said that after finishing the race in 6^th position Miss Hofmann rode past him and called out to him, "you black cunt". He then said when he was riding back to scale she struck him on the back with the whip. He then complained to the Stipendiary Stewards, who ordered a Doctor's examination. Subsequently, a photograph was taken which was produced at the inquiry.

Mr AL Jones, representing Miss Hofmann, cross-examined Mr Walker at length, questioning him on the accuracy of his statement.

Mr JP Oatham, Stipendiary Steward, called as a witness by Mr McKenzie said he had seen the welt on Mr Walker's back after he returned to scale following the race. He then interviewed Miss Hofmann who admitted hitting Mr Walker and using the words accused of.

In defence of the second charge, Mr Jones called Miss Hofmann to give evidence. She admitted striking Mr Walker and using the language spoken of. However, she said this incident was fuelled by her resentment towards jockey Walker following several previous race-day confrontations. She stated that she regretted her use of the words and lowering her own high standards and she apologised for her action in that regard. When she used her whip it was in self-defence as she felt she could have been forced over the inside fence by jockey Walker as they rode back to scale after the race.

Mr Jones, in his submissions, said that the first charge was only about one word, the word black, which she had admitted using, so that charge was of a minor nature.

He submitted that the second charge was brought about by Miss Hofmann retaliating in self-defence because of her fear of being put over the inside rail.

Mr Jones called jockey KT Hercock who gave evidence about an incident at a previous Avondale race meeting. He also called jockey TD Thornton who gave evidence of what she claimed to have seen occur between jockey Hofmann and jockey Walker at Te Aroha. It was noted that jockey Thornton acknowledged that what she stated to officials on the race day was not totally consistent with the evidence she gave to us. A letter was also tabled by Mr Jones from jockey J Lewis about the Avondale incident.

Mr McKenzie in his submission as to the evidence given relating to the second charge, stated that having regard to NZ statute law and the legal defence of self defence, that taking into account all of the evidence and applying that to the NZ Rules of Racing, self-defence was not an appropriate defence to be used as an excuse for an assault such as this.

Having listened to the evidence and taking into account the submissions made by Mr Jones and Mr McKenzie, we reject the submission that jockey Hofmann was entitled to strike jockey Walker with her whip in the manner she did. Even taking into account the conflicting evidence given in this matter by the two jockeys in question, we are not convinced that the defence of self defence is an appropriate or credible claim in the circumstances that were placed before us.

Accordingly we find the second charge proved.

Submissions were then made on penalty by Mr McKenzie and Mr Jones.

In arriving at our decision in terms of penalty we have listened carefully and taken into account all of the evidence and the submissions presented to us. It is disappointing and somewhat unusual to find a jockey with such an excellent reputation in terms of her character and ability before us on charges such as these.

The committee accepts the evidence brought by Miss Hofmann and confirmed by witnesses, Miss K Hercock and Miss J Lewis, that she had been subjected to abuse from Mr Walker on prior occasions. Therefore, in reaching a fair penalty we must balance the seriousness of this charge with the background as claimed. We have taken into account her partial admission of the charges at the earliest opportunity and her exemplary record.

The first charge relates to the insulting and obscene language directed at jockey Walker for which she has pleaded guilty.

We find that such insulting and obscene language to have been extremely offensive and clearly of a racist nature. We make it abundantly clear that there is no place for such conduct within the NZ Thoroughbred racing industry,

This action is clearly in breach of Rule 304 of the NZ Rules of Racing and we therefore find Miss Hofmann guilty as charged.

Accordingly, on this charge Miss Hofmann's licence is suspended from after the conclusion of racing on 2^nd November 2005, until after the conclusion of racing on 16^th November 2005.

The second charge relates to the assault of using the whip on jockey Walker. It is clear from the evidence produced and indeed by Miss Hofmann's own admission that she struck Mr Walker with the whip.

Again we find there is no place for such conduct within our NZ Thoroughbred Racing industry. Accordingly, we have found Miss Hofmann guilty as charged.

As in the first charge we accept there was provocation leading to this incident. While acknowledging that this did not take place during the race and also the fact that Miss Hofmann claims to have feared for her safety, retaliation in this manner cannot be tolerated.

Accordingly, we impose a term of suspension, to start after the conclusion of racing on 2^nd November 2005, until after the conclusion of racing on 23^rd November 2005.

In addition, costs are ordered of $250 to NZ Thoroughbred Racing, and $350 to the Judicial Control Authority.

In coming to this decision, we note that these penalties should not be used in precedents because of the mitigating circumstances.

sumissionsforpenalty:

reasonsforpenalty:

penalty:

hearing_type: Old Hearing

Rules:

Informant:

JockeysandTrainer:

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

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: