‘Kangaroo court’ condemns Queensland racing identities to besmirched reputations
Ray Hadley has slammed the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission (QRIC) for commencing a “blitzkrieg on the trotting fraternity”.
Ten racing identities were arrested on 30 charges after the QRIC head, Ross Barnett, brought forward a CCC investigation into race fixing.
But after phone taps, seizures of bank statements, search warrants and legal proceedings, no convictions were recorded against any of the ten.
Despite this, the racing identities claim to have suffered significant damage to reputation as searches of their name return details of the false allegations.
“I don’t know any of these people involved firsthand – I know them by reputation – but you talk about some of the best drivers and trainers in Queensland,” said Ray.
“I wasn’t to know it was just a kangaroo court convened by people who didn’t investigate properly!”
Criminal lawyer Dan Hannay said the legal proceedings against the identities was haphazard.
“They’ve taken a shotgun approach, in my view; without undertaking the proper investigation, a thorough investigation prior, working out what evidence they do have, what evidence they can sustain beyond reasonable doubt, and then putting that before the courts,” he told Ray.
“And [there’s] no one to answer for it.”
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Image: Getty