Non-Raceday Inquiry – L Corfield
ID: JCA18892
Hearing Type (Code):
thoroughbred-racing
Decision: --
Information No. 62104 has been laid by Racecourse Inspector Mr R. D. Scott, and alleges a breach of Rule 528(1) of the Rules of Racing by the defendant, Licensed Jockey Ms L. Corfield.
--
DECISION OF JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
--_____________________________________________________________
--Information No. 62104 has been laid by Racecourse Inspector Mr R. D. Scott, and alleges a breach of Rule 528(1) of the Rules of Racing by the defendant, Licensed Jockey Ms L. Corfield. The charge reads as follows.
------"I, the abovenamed informant allege that the abovenamed Defendant committed a breach of Rule 528(1) in that on Sunday the 8th day of July 2007 at the Ashburton Race Course, that Ms Lisa Corfield, being a rider, who having been requested by a Racecourse Inspector to supply a sample of her urine which was found upon analysis, to contain the controlled drug cannabis as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, committed a breach of Rule 528(1) of the New Zealand Rules of Racing AND THAT you are therefore liable to the penalty or penalties which may be imposed upon you pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1003(1) of the said Rules."
----
Rule 528(1) provides as follows.
--"(1) Every rider or stablehand who, having been required by a Stipendiary Steward or Racecourse Inspector or Judicial Committee to supply a sample of his blood, breath, urine, saliva or sweat (or more than one thereof), which is found upon analysis to contain any controlled drug as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 or other illicit substance or diuretic and/or its metabolites, artifacts or isomers, commits a breach of this Rule."
--Ms Corfield attended the hearing and she admitted this breach of the Rules. She
--also agreed that she understood the charge and the Rule. Accordingly we found the charge to be proved.
------Mr Scott provided an authority to prosecute from the Chief Executive of New
--Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.
------Mr Scott also presented and read a "Summary of Facts" relating to this charge,
--and this is attached to this decision. Ms Corfield attended the Ashburton Racing Club's race meeting at the Ashburton Racecourse on 8 July 2007. A notice (also attached) was served on Ms Corfield to provide a urine sample, which she did. On analysis this sample tested positive to cannabis, and a certificate to this effect was provided by a Drug Testing Analyst from the ESR.
--Ms Corfield had no dispute with the facts of this matter as stated by Mr Scott.
----Submissions on Penalty: Mr Scott presented and read penalty submissions which are also attached to this decision. Mr Scott emphasised that NZTR has an illicit drug free policy in terms of all riders whether they ride in races, trials or in track work. Mr Scott also produced a list of previous prosecutions where cannabis had been involved, and this showed that the penalty for a first offence was a disqualification for three months. We note that the three most recent cases involving Jockeys D. J. Hughes, A. Q. Ihaka and P. G. Cunningham all resulted in a three month disqualification.
--Mr Scott also advised us that Ms Corfield had been tested again on 13 July and 4 September 2007 to see if she could be cleared to ride. However both these tests were positive to cannabis. Mr Scott informed us that a person could test positive to cannabis for up to six weeks after they stopped using it.
--Ms Corfield presented and read her submissions on penalty, and these are attached to this decision. She outlined her personal circumstances and her involvement in racing. She explained that she had accepted the ride at the Ashburton races the night before after the jockey originally engaged became unavailable. Ms Corfield said that she had not been using drugs at that time and did not think she would test positive for this reason.
--Ms Corfield also made submissions as to the physical and emotional problems she was having at the time of this offence. She had received serious injuries in a riding accident and at about the same time a jockey was killed in a riding accident. She had turned to cannabis as she was in a lot of pain and she was also affected emotionally.
--Ms Corfield asked that we show compassion as she was dependent on her work in the racing industry. We do take into account Ms Cordfield's guilty plea and her obvious remorse.
--------Having considered all the submissions on penalty we are satisfied that we must
--be consistent with the penalties imposed in previous similar cases. While we sympathise with Ms Corfield's circumstances there is a need to maintain integrity and public confidence in racing and to this end the sentence must be a realistic punishment. The sentence we impose must deter other persons in the racing industry from committing like offences. Put in another way persons involved in the racing industry should be given a clear signal that offending in this way will not be tolerated. The penalty must deter the person charged from re-offending and it must also deter others.
--Taking all the above matters into account we can find no valid reason to depart from the precedents set in previous prosecutions. Ms Corfield is therefore disqualified for a period of three months, and this is to run from 17 September 2007 to 16 December 2007 inclusive.
--Costs: Mr Scott advised that NZTR was seeking costs of re-testing only and that these costs amounted to $317-00 plus GST. There will be an order that Ms Corfield make a contribution of $250-00 towards these costs and in addition there will be an order for costs of $150-00 to be paid by her to the JCA.
----
_______________
--J. M. Phelan
--Chairman
Decision Date: 01/01/2001
Publish Date: 01/01/2001
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: 28f7200c46315b91971d69283b02f6eb
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
startdate: 01/01/2001
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Non-Raceday Inquiry - L Corfield
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
--Information No. 62104 has been laid by Racecourse Inspector Mr R. D. Scott, and alleges a breach of Rule 528(1) of the Rules of Racing by the defendant, Licensed Jockey Ms L. Corfield.
--
DECISION OF JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
--_____________________________________________________________
--Information No. 62104 has been laid by Racecourse Inspector Mr R. D. Scott, and alleges a breach of Rule 528(1) of the Rules of Racing by the defendant, Licensed Jockey Ms L. Corfield. The charge reads as follows.
------"I, the abovenamed informant allege that the abovenamed Defendant committed a breach of Rule 528(1) in that on Sunday the 8th day of July 2007 at the Ashburton Race Course, that Ms Lisa Corfield, being a rider, who having been requested by a Racecourse Inspector to supply a sample of her urine which was found upon analysis, to contain the controlled drug cannabis as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, committed a breach of Rule 528(1) of the New Zealand Rules of Racing AND THAT you are therefore liable to the penalty or penalties which may be imposed upon you pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1003(1) of the said Rules."
----
Rule 528(1) provides as follows.
--"(1) Every rider or stablehand who, having been required by a Stipendiary Steward or Racecourse Inspector or Judicial Committee to supply a sample of his blood, breath, urine, saliva or sweat (or more than one thereof), which is found upon analysis to contain any controlled drug as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 or other illicit substance or diuretic and/or its metabolites, artifacts or isomers, commits a breach of this Rule."
--Ms Corfield attended the hearing and she admitted this breach of the Rules. She
--also agreed that she understood the charge and the Rule. Accordingly we found the charge to be proved.
------Mr Scott provided an authority to prosecute from the Chief Executive of New
--Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.
------Mr Scott also presented and read a "Summary of Facts" relating to this charge,
--and this is attached to this decision. Ms Corfield attended the Ashburton Racing Club's race meeting at the Ashburton Racecourse on 8 July 2007. A notice (also attached) was served on Ms Corfield to provide a urine sample, which she did. On analysis this sample tested positive to cannabis, and a certificate to this effect was provided by a Drug Testing Analyst from the ESR.
--Ms Corfield had no dispute with the facts of this matter as stated by Mr Scott.
----Submissions on Penalty:
Mr Scott presented and read penalty submissions which are also attached to this decision. Mr Scott emphasised that NZTR has an illicit drug free policy in terms of all riders whether they ride in races, trials or in track work. Mr Scott also produced a list of previous prosecutions where cannabis had been involved, and this showed that the penalty for a first offence was a disqualification for three months. We note that the three most recent cases involving Jockeys D. J. Hughes, A. Q. Ihaka and P. G. Cunningham all resulted in a three month disqualification.--Mr Scott also advised us that Ms Corfield had been tested again on 13 July and 4 September 2007 to see if she could be cleared to ride. However both these tests were positive to cannabis. Mr Scott informed us that a person could test positive to cannabis for up to six weeks after they stopped using it.
--Ms Corfield presented and read her submissions on penalty, and these are attached to this decision. She outlined her personal circumstances and her involvement in racing. She explained that she had accepted the ride at the Ashburton races the night before after the jockey originally engaged became unavailable. Ms Corfield said that she had not been using drugs at that time and did not think she would test positive for this reason.
--Ms Corfield also made submissions as to the physical and emotional problems she was having at the time of this offence. She had received serious injuries in a riding accident and at about the same time a jockey was killed in a riding accident. She had turned to cannabis as she was in a lot of pain and she was also affected emotionally.
--Ms Corfield asked that we show compassion as she was dependent on her work in the racing industry. We do take into account Ms Cordfield's guilty plea and her obvious remorse.
--------Having considered all the submissions on penalty we are satisfied that we must
--be consistent with the penalties imposed in previous similar cases. While we sympathise with Ms Corfield's circumstances there is a need to maintain integrity and public confidence in racing and to this end the sentence must be a realistic punishment. The sentence we impose must deter other persons in the racing industry from committing like offences. Put in another way persons involved in the racing industry should be given a clear signal that offending in this way will not be tolerated. The penalty must deter the person charged from re-offending and it must also deter others.
--Taking all the above matters into account we can find no valid reason to depart from the precedents set in previous prosecutions. Ms Corfield is therefore disqualified for a period of three months, and this is to run from 17 September 2007 to 16 December 2007 inclusive.
--Costs:
Mr Scott advised that NZTR was seeking costs of re-testing only and that these costs amounted to $317-00 plus GST. There will be an order that Ms Corfield make a contribution of $250-00 towards these costs and in addition there will be an order for costs of $150-00 to be paid by her to the JCA.----
_______________
--J. M. Phelan
--Chairman
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 528.1, 1003.1
Informant:
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