Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v GV Vile – Decision dated 25 June 2014

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decisiondate: 17/06/2014

hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v GV Vile - Decision dated 25 June 2014

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Decision:

BEFORE THE JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY

UNDER THE RACING ACT 2003

IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Racing

BETWEEN RACING INTEGRITY UNIT

Informant

AND MR G V VILE

Respondent

Information no: A4159

Judicial Committee: Mrs N Moffatt, Chairman - Mr T Utikere, Committee Member

Appearing: Mr B Bevege (for the informant) – Mr G V Vile (as the respondent)

Registrar: Mr B Bateup

Venue: Awapuni Racecourse

Date of Hearing: 14 June 2014

Date of Decision: 25 June 2014

DECISION OF JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

[1] Mr Vile appears before this Judicial Committee on the following charge:

Information Number A4159

THAT On 14th January 2014, at Palmerston North, Gary Robert Vile, being a licensed person, committed a breach of Rule 340, of the New Zealand Rules of Racing, in that you used insulting and abusive language, namely “and I will get on National TV and tell them what a f****** idiot you are” and “you are a dickhead and I am telling you straight out I hope you are recording because you are a straight out dickhead” to George Strickland, an official of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and that you are therefore liable to the penalty or penalties that may be imposed upon you pursuant to Rule 803(1).

[2] The rule reads as follows

Rule 340 “A Licensed person, owner, lessee, Racing Manager, Official or other person bound by these Rules must not misconduct himself in any matter relating to the conduct of Races or racing.”

[3] Mr Vile acknowledged he understood the nature of the charge and confirmed that he admitted the breach. We therefore find the charge proved.

[4] Mr Bevege tabled a signed authority from Mr M Godber (Operations Manager RIU) to proceed with the charge against Mr Vile. Copies of the Information and a summary of facts were also produced.

FACTS

[5] Mr Vile is a licensed Class A Trainer under the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing. He has been a licensed trainer since 1987 and is currently the Chairman of the Central Districts Trainers Association.

[6] Mr Vile is a senior Trainer who has an impressive performance history having trained over 400 winners.

[7] On the 14th January 2014 Mr Vile made a phone call to New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and spoke to NZTR Cadet Handicapper Mr George Strickland.

[8] During the call Mr Vile was abusive, intimidating and insulting to Mr Strickland. (The transcript of the full telephone conversation is produced)

[9] Mr Vile was spoken to by the Chief Racing Investigator, Mr R Carmichael, at Awapuni on the 29th March. In that interview Mr Vile admitted making the phone call in question stating that he had become frustrated and annoyed as he didn’t think that Mr Strickland understood his argument with regards to the re-handicap of one of his horses.

[10] After taking advice Mr Vile was formally interviewed and made a written statement on the 27th May. He accepted that the transcript of the telephone conversation was a correct record as far as he could remember. He also accepted that he had previously received a phone call from Mr Greg Purcell regarding his phone behaviour towards NZTR staff.

[11] Mr Vile was remorseful for his conduct, indicated that it will never happen again and is prepared to apologize to Mr Strickland. He again reiterated that the tone of his conversation was due to his frustration at not getting any satisfaction from the handicappers at NZTR.

[12] Although this matter has taken some time to resolve Mr Vile has co-operated with the investigators at all times during this enquiry.

[13] Following a question from the Judicial Committee as to why it had taken 5 months for the charge against Mr Vile to be laid, Mr Bevege explained that the RIU only received the complaint from NZTR (Mr Purcell) in March, two months after the incident, and following that a combination of RIU matters had meant the matter was only now being heard. Mr Bevege emphasised the delay was in no way attributable to any actions on behalf of Mr Vile.

PENALTY SUBMISSIONS BY INFORMANT

[14] The rationale of the Misconduct Rule is quite clear in that there is a high expectation that license holders will conduct themselves in a professional and responsible manner.

[15] Section 803 states that persons who commit a breach of the rules shall be liable to

(a) be disqualified for a period not exceeding 12 months, and/or

(b) be suspended from holding a license for a period not exceeding 12 months and/or

(c) a fine not exceeding $20,000

[16] It is the submission of the informant that, depending on the personal circumstances of Mr Vile, that neither disqualification nor suspension is appropriate and that the matter can be disposed of by way of a fine.

[17] It is a fact, as reported in the case of NZTR and C (2006) that;

“Most cases of misconduct involving licensed persons were unpremeditated, they were a direct reaction to an action they felt aggrieved about, often including language of an obscene or offensive nature, and all is usually as a result of race day pressure”.

[18] The aggravating factors in this case are

(a) Mr Vile’s language was directed at a junior member of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Staff.

(b) Mr Vile has previously been warned by the CEO of NZTR with regards his telephone conduct when speaking with NZTR staff.

(c) Mr Vile’s position as Chairman of the Central Districts Trainers Association.

[19] Against this, the Informant accepts that the penalty may be mitigated by

(a) The frank admission made by Mr Vile.

(b) The admission of the offence at the first opportunity and his willingness to have the matter determined prior to a race meeting in an effort to minimize costs.

(c) The fact that Mr Vile has never appeared before the JCA on any charge of a serious nature.

[20] Recent cases involving misconduct charges, together with the penalties imposed are listed below:

RIU v M - Faced three charges and was fined $350 on each charge being a total of $1050

RIU v P - Fined $850.

[21] Due to the aggravating factors of this matter the RIU seek a Penalty of a fine of $1000. There are no costs sought by the RIU.

PENALTY SUBMISSIONS BY RESPONDENT

[22] Mr Vile denied being previously “warned” by the CEO of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and explained that Mr Purcell had rung him one day at the Foxton trials and suggested Mr Vile call him personally if he had any problems or issues with NZTR. This followed a minor altercation Mr Vile had had with another member of staff on a separate occasion, after which he apologised.

[23] In relation to this charge Mr Vile informed the committee that he did not ring Mr Strickland. Instead he had tried on four occasions to call the Chief Handicapper, Mr Scelly, leaving messages on the telephone for him.

[24] Finally, after two days, Mr Scelly returned Mr Vile’s calls. At the time of this phone call Mr Vile was attending a yearling parade.

[25] Mr Vile subsequently became upset when Mr Scelly passed the telephone to Mr Strickland, a cadet handicapper. He believed that, as a senior trainer, he deserved to be spoken to by the Handicapper, not a junior person.

[26] Mr Vile acknowledged his conduct was “terrible” and said while he was very remorseful he could not turn back the clock. He said he fired up at Mr Strickland because of the fact that Mr Scelly did not pay him the courtesy he believed he deserved, which was to talk through his concerns with the Handicapper.

[27] Mr Vile believes the incident would not have happened if Mr Scelly had spoken to him instead of passing the matter over to Mr Strickland. He said Mr Strickland did not deserve to be spoken to like he was.

[28] Mr Vile concluded by saying that he had been treated very fairly throughout the inquiry process by Mr Bevege and reiterated he was remorseful for what had happened. It was not his wish to bring any bad publicity to racing and he would accept any penalty that was given to him and move on.

DECISION

[29] In coming to a decision on penalty we have carefully considered all of the submissions placed before us.

[30] Mr Bevege presented two cases for us to refer to and while both were misconduct charges one was of more use than the other. The RIU v P case contained the penalty decision only and, without all the facts of the charge, was of limited use.

[31] There were a number of differences between the RIU v M case and Mr Vile’s case.

[32] One referred to misconduct within a public forum and encompassed three separate charges whereas Mr Vile’s charge followed an exchange of words, person to person, via a single telephone conversation.

[33] We accept an aggravating factor to be that Mr Vile’s outburst was directed at a junior member of NZTR staff. While it was not his intention to speak to that person Mr Vile’s standing and experience as a senior trainer should have led to more professional conduct.

[34] There was some variance between the original summary of facts (and which the RIU has submitted as aggravating factors) and that which Mr Vile told us at the hearing. He said there had been no prior warning from the CEO of NZTR and that he did not initiate the call to Mr Strickland.

[35] Mr Vile’s outburst was in response to a high level of frustration brought about by a particular set of circumstances. This is in no way an excuse for his behavior but does provide a background to the incident.

[36] Mitigating factors are Mr Vile’s very good record, his cooperation with the RIU and his early admission of the breach. He has also indicated that he is willing to apologise to Mr Strickland.

PENALTY

[37] Taking into account all of these factors we impose a monetary penalty of $350.00.

COSTS

[38] There was no request for costs from the Racing Integrity Unit and as this matter was heard on a race day we make no order for costs.

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