Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v AJ McCook – 19 September 2011 – Decision dated 4 October 2011
ID: JCA12783
Decision:
BEFORE A JUDICIAL COMMITTEE HELD AT INVERCARGILL
IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Greyhound Racing
BETWEEN Racing Integrity Unit
Informant
AND Andrew John McCOOK
Defendant
DATE OF HEARING: 19 September 2011
VENUE: Ascot Park Raceway, Invercargill.
PRESENT: Mr R. D. Scott (Racing Investigator) representing the Racing Integrity Unit, Mr M. R. Davidson (Stipendiary Steward) – Registrar
Mr C. J. Allison (Stipendiary Steward) – Observer
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE: J. M. Phelan (Chairman) - N. D. Skelt
DATE OF DECISION: 4 October 2011
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE’S DECISION
[1] Racing Investigator Mr R. D. Scott has filed an Information (69202) charging Licensed Trainer Mr Andrew John McCook with one breach of the Rules of Greyhound Racing. It was alleged that Mr McCook used offensive language towards Mrs Bronwyn Ann Eade in contravention of Rule 88(1)(f) of the Rules of Greyhound Racing.
[2] The charge against Mr McCook reads as follows.
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 88(1)(f) IN THAT on 12 July 2011, being a licensed GRNZ trainer, at Invercargill you used obscene language towards Mrs Bronwyn Ann Eade, Secretary of the Southland Greyhound, AND THAT you thereby have committed a breach of Rule 88(1)(f) of the Rules of Greyhound Racing AND THAT you are liable for the penalty/penalties which may be imposed upon you to Rule 89(1) of the said Rules.”
[3] Rule 88(1)(f) reads as follows.
“88(1) Any person (including an official) commits an offence if he/she:
(f) uses improper, insulting or offensive language in either written or spoken form towards, or in relation to:
i. a Steward;
ii. the Club Committee, or a member of the Club Committee;
iii the Board, or a member of the Board; or
iv any other person having official duties in relation to Greyhound racing:’
[4] Mr McCook agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under. He also confirmed that he did not admit this breach.
[5] In opening his case Mr Scott produced a letter pursuant to Rule 92(2)(a) from the Operations Manager of the Racing Integrity Unit authorising Mr Scott to file this information with the Executive Officer of the Judicial Control Authority.
[6] Mrs Bronwyn Ann Eade gave evidence that she is the Secretary of the Southland Greyhound Racing Club, and on the 12 July 2011 there was a meeting of that Club held at Ascot Park, Invercargill. During Race 7 there was a lure malfunction and that Race was subsequently abandoned.
As the lure could not be used further that day the meeting was abandoned. In cases such as these trainers of greyhounds which have not raced are entitled to compensation under a set of Rules formulated for such an occurrence.
[7] After the abandonment Mr McCook went to the Secretary’s office to ask for compensation payments. He was told by Mrs Eade that it would take some time to work this out, and as there were a lot of cheques to write out, she would do this later and post it to him. Mr McCook was not happy with this, and said to Mrs Eade “f*** you” and then walked away. Mrs Eade said the abuse was spoken normally, but that she believed that other persons in the vicinity would have heard, and she was offended by what was said.
[8] In cross examination Mrs Eade was asked if Paul Connor had heard, and Mrs Eade said that she believed he had heard the “F” word being used.
[9] Georgina Theresa Hamilton was also present when this incident took place. She gave evidence that she was standing close to Mr McCook at the time and that he used the work “f***” on more than one occasion. As she was offended by the language she moved away from the area and she did not hear Mr McCook speak to Mrs Eade using obscene language.
[10] Paul Alexander Connor gave evidence that he is the Chairman of the Southland Greyhound Racing Club. He said that he heard Mr McCook use the word “f***” but could not say what words accompanied that word.
[11] Mr McCook called David Ian Robbie to give evidence in his defence. Mr Robbie said that he was present when this incident took place. The witness said that Mr McCook did use the word “f***” on several occasions, but not towards any particular person.
[12] Mr McCook gave evidence and denied that he had used obscene language at all. He said that as he was walking away he said “for gods sake”.
[13] After the completion of the evidence we adjourned to consider our decision. We were satisfied that there was clear evidence that Mr McCook had used the word “f***” on several occasions during the incident. His evidence to the contrary is not credible.
[14] In this case Rule 88(1)((f) requires proof that the defendant used “improper, insulting or offensive language …. towards or in relation to …. a member of the Club Committee”, in this case the Secretary, Mrs Eade. Mrs Eade gave evidence that the words used towards her were “f*** off”. The witnesses, Georgina Hamilton, Paul Connor and David Robbie confirmed the use of the work “f***” but were unable to say that the word was directed at Mrs Eade personally.
[15] We would have thought that some other person present would have been able to say that the language was directed at Mrs Eade. We decided that in the absence of some corroboration of Mrs Eade’s evidence that this charge had not been proved to the standard necessary, and that the charge should therefore be dismissed.
[16] On resuming the hearing we gave our reasons (as set out above) and advised the parties that the charge was dismissed.
[17] After the completion of this hearing Mr McCook made an application for costs. There will be an order that Mr McCook put his application for costs in writing and accompany it with documents to support his claim. The application is to be sent to the Executive Officer of the JCA by 14 October 2011, and is to be referred to the RIU. The RIU are to respond to Mr McCook’s application by 21 October 2011.
[18] There will be a further decision as to costs when the above matters have been attended to.
__________________ _________________
J. M. Phelan N. D. Skelt
Chairman Committee Member
Penalty:
N/A
Appeal Decision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION
Decision Date: 11/10/2011
Publish Date: 11/10/2011
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: 5829e7a067c1645446b4ff99c77fcff9
informantnumber: 69202
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 11/10/2011
hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v AJ McCook - 19 September 2011 - Decision dated 4 October 2011
charge:
facts:
appealdecision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
BEFORE A JUDICIAL COMMITTEE HELD AT INVERCARGILL
IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Greyhound Racing
BETWEEN Racing Integrity Unit
Informant
AND Andrew John McCOOK
Defendant
DATE OF HEARING: 19 September 2011
VENUE: Ascot Park Raceway, Invercargill.
PRESENT: Mr R. D. Scott (Racing Investigator) representing the Racing Integrity Unit, Mr M. R. Davidson (Stipendiary Steward) – Registrar
Mr C. J. Allison (Stipendiary Steward) – Observer
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE: J. M. Phelan (Chairman) - N. D. Skelt
DATE OF DECISION: 4 October 2011
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE’S DECISION
[1] Racing Investigator Mr R. D. Scott has filed an Information (69202) charging Licensed Trainer Mr Andrew John McCook with one breach of the Rules of Greyhound Racing. It was alleged that Mr McCook used offensive language towards Mrs Bronwyn Ann Eade in contravention of Rule 88(1)(f) of the Rules of Greyhound Racing.
[2] The charge against Mr McCook reads as follows.
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 88(1)(f) IN THAT on 12 July 2011, being a licensed GRNZ trainer, at Invercargill you used obscene language towards Mrs Bronwyn Ann Eade, Secretary of the Southland Greyhound, AND THAT you thereby have committed a breach of Rule 88(1)(f) of the Rules of Greyhound Racing AND THAT you are liable for the penalty/penalties which may be imposed upon you to Rule 89(1) of the said Rules.”
[3] Rule 88(1)(f) reads as follows.
“88(1) Any person (including an official) commits an offence if he/she:
(f) uses improper, insulting or offensive language in either written or spoken form towards, or in relation to:
i. a Steward;
ii. the Club Committee, or a member of the Club Committee;
iii the Board, or a member of the Board; or
iv any other person having official duties in relation to Greyhound racing:’
[4] Mr McCook agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under. He also confirmed that he did not admit this breach.
[5] In opening his case Mr Scott produced a letter pursuant to Rule 92(2)(a) from the Operations Manager of the Racing Integrity Unit authorising Mr Scott to file this information with the Executive Officer of the Judicial Control Authority.
[6] Mrs Bronwyn Ann Eade gave evidence that she is the Secretary of the Southland Greyhound Racing Club, and on the 12 July 2011 there was a meeting of that Club held at Ascot Park, Invercargill. During Race 7 there was a lure malfunction and that Race was subsequently abandoned.
As the lure could not be used further that day the meeting was abandoned. In cases such as these trainers of greyhounds which have not raced are entitled to compensation under a set of Rules formulated for such an occurrence.
[7] After the abandonment Mr McCook went to the Secretary’s office to ask for compensation payments. He was told by Mrs Eade that it would take some time to work this out, and as there were a lot of cheques to write out, she would do this later and post it to him. Mr McCook was not happy with this, and said to Mrs Eade “f*** you” and then walked away. Mrs Eade said the abuse was spoken normally, but that she believed that other persons in the vicinity would have heard, and she was offended by what was said.
[8] In cross examination Mrs Eade was asked if Paul Connor had heard, and Mrs Eade said that she believed he had heard the “F” word being used.
[9] Georgina Theresa Hamilton was also present when this incident took place. She gave evidence that she was standing close to Mr McCook at the time and that he used the work “f***” on more than one occasion. As she was offended by the language she moved away from the area and she did not hear Mr McCook speak to Mrs Eade using obscene language.
[10] Paul Alexander Connor gave evidence that he is the Chairman of the Southland Greyhound Racing Club. He said that he heard Mr McCook use the word “f***” but could not say what words accompanied that word.
[11] Mr McCook called David Ian Robbie to give evidence in his defence. Mr Robbie said that he was present when this incident took place. The witness said that Mr McCook did use the word “f***” on several occasions, but not towards any particular person.
[12] Mr McCook gave evidence and denied that he had used obscene language at all. He said that as he was walking away he said “for gods sake”.
[13] After the completion of the evidence we adjourned to consider our decision. We were satisfied that there was clear evidence that Mr McCook had used the word “f***” on several occasions during the incident. His evidence to the contrary is not credible.
[14] In this case Rule 88(1)((f) requires proof that the defendant used “improper, insulting or offensive language …. towards or in relation to …. a member of the Club Committee”, in this case the Secretary, Mrs Eade. Mrs Eade gave evidence that the words used towards her were “f*** off”. The witnesses, Georgina Hamilton, Paul Connor and David Robbie confirmed the use of the work “f***” but were unable to say that the word was directed at Mrs Eade personally.
[15] We would have thought that some other person present would have been able to say that the language was directed at Mrs Eade. We decided that in the absence of some corroboration of Mrs Eade’s evidence that this charge had not been proved to the standard necessary, and that the charge should therefore be dismissed.
[16] On resuming the hearing we gave our reasons (as set out above) and advised the parties that the charge was dismissed.
[17] After the completion of this hearing Mr McCook made an application for costs. There will be an order that Mr McCook put his application for costs in writing and accompany it with documents to support his claim. The application is to be sent to the Executive Officer of the JCA by 14 October 2011, and is to be referred to the RIU. The RIU are to respond to Mr McCook’s application by 21 October 2011.
[18] There will be a further decision as to costs when the above matters have been attended to.
__________________ _________________
J. M. Phelan N. D. Skelt
Chairman Committee Member
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
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N/A
hearing_type: Non-race day
Rules: 88(1)(f)
Informant: Mr R Scott - Racing Investigator
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PersonPresent: Mr MR Davidson - Registrar, Mr CJ Allison - Observer
Respondent: Mr AJ McCook - Licensed Trainer
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