BRIAN BRENDAN WRIGHT

Published: Monday 02 Apr 2007

BRIAN BRENDAN WRIGHT – BACKGROUND

Further to Brian Wright having been found guilty of conspiracy to evade prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug and conspiracy to supply drugs:

Whilst this trial was not a racing trial, we know that gambling was used to cover the true source of his wealth. In fact I read that certain facts were not allowed to be told to the jury including his involvement in the corruption of racing. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6362417.stm

In relation to racing, the situation remains the same: he is excluded from racecourses and licensed premises along with other members of the Wright Organisation. The specifics of the case which was considered by our Disciplinary Panel in December 2002 and the sources of our evidence can be found under this email.

The HRA did have a member of the Security Department at Woolwich Crown Court mainly to check if anything new in relation to his racing activities was mentioned. From Wright’s defence there was no fresh evidence of breaches of the Rules of Racing for the HRA to consider.

Owen Byrne
Public Relations Officer
HRA

Brian Wright, Brian Wright Jr, Barrie Wright, Ian Kiernan and Paul Shannon

Published: 13 December 2002

Panel: Christopher Hodgson (Chairman), William Bethell and Nicholas Wrigley

The Disciplinary Committee of the Jockey Club held an enquiry on 13th December 2002 to consider whether or not it should exercise its powers under Rule 2 (v) (a) of the Rules of Racing and exclude Brian Brendan Wright, Brian Anthony Wright, Barrie Wright (no relation), a former licensed jockey, Paul Shannon and Ian Kiernan, in their absence, from any premises owned, licensed or controlled by the Stewards of the Jockey Club.

The Committee considered the evidence, including transcripts of evidence given during January and February 2001 in the course of the trial of Brian Anthony Wright, Kiernan and Shannon at Woolwich Crown Court, and during September and October 2001 in the course of the trial of Barrie Wright at Southampton Crown Court and extracts from Graham Bradley’s autobiography “The Wayward Lad”.

The Committee found that:

1) Brian Brendan Wright had:
a) run ‘The Racing Organisation’, the purpose of which was betting on a very substantial scale with the benefit of inside information procured from jockeys and others, and which employed Brian Anthony Wright (his son), Kiernan and Shannon for that purpose;

b) over a period of many years procured and caused to be procured from Graham Bradley, when Bradley was a licensed jockey, a great deal of privileged inside information, in return for monetary reward or the provision of reward in kind;

c) done the same thing with regard to Barrie Wright, when Barrie Wright was a licensed jockey;

d) frequently entertained Graham Bradley and numerous other jockeys on a lavish scale to keep them ‘sweet’; that is to say, to provide them with favours in order to induce them to continue providing him and his Organisation with inside information;

e) placed bets for David Dutton, when Dutton was a licensed jockey;

f) caused a horse, namely Border Tinker, to be entered for a race in the name of a person as his Owner when that person had no beneficial interest in the horse, or a beneficial interest less than that of others having beneficial interests

g) on other occasions caused other horses owned by him, to be entered for races in the names of persons as their Owners when those persons had no beneficial interest in the horse, or a beneficial interest less than that of others having beneficial interests

2) Brian Anthony Wright had:
a) been an employee of ‘The Racing Organisation’, the purpose of which was to bet with the benefit of inside information procured from jockeys and others.

b) in his capacity as an employee of ‘The Racing Organisation’ been a knowing party to or connived at the following:

– regularly seeking and obtaining inside information from Bradley and Barrie Wright;
– paying jockeys to provide information by providing them with free bets;
– entertaining jockeys at night clubs, at expense running into four figures to keep the jockeys ‘sweet’;
– taking unlicensed bets and betting with unlicensed bookmakers.

3) Barrie Wright had:
a) given or offered to give on various dates during the term of his licence information concerning horses entered in races run under the Rules of Racing in return for monetary consideration, other than the receipt of a reasonable fee for giving an interview to the Press or other legitimate news gathering organisation for the purposes of general publication;

b) received on various occasions during the term of his licence part of the proceeds of bets on horseracing;

c) received presents in connection with a race on various occasions during the term of his licence from persons other than the Owner of the horse ridden by him in that race.

d) procured and provided inside information about horses in return for cash and presents after he ceased to be a licensed jockey;

4) Ian Kiernan had:
a) been for many years an employee of ‘The Racing Organisation’, the purpose of which was to bet with the benefit of inside information procured from jockeys and others, and being financially dependent on that Organisation

b) in his capacity as an employee of ‘The Racing Organisation’:

– regularly sought and obtained inside information from Bradley, when he was a licensed jockey;
– done the same thing with Barrie Wright both when he was a licensed jockey and afterwards;
– regularly placed bets on behalf of the Organisation.

5) Paul Shannon had:
a) been for many years an employee of ‘The Racing Organisation’, the purpose of which was to bet with the benefit of inside information procured from jockeys and others, and been financially dependent on that Organisation

b) in his capacity as an employee of ‘The Racing Organisation’:

– regularly sought and obtained inside information from Bradley, when he was a licensed jockey;
– regularly placed bets on behalf of the Organisation.

The Committee ordered all five men to be excluded from all premises owned, licensed or controlled by the Stewards of the Jockey Club with immediate effect for an indefinite period. It further informed them that no application to have the Exclusion Orders lifted would be considered before:

in the case of Brian Brendan Wright – 1st January 2023
in the case of Barrie Wright – 1st January 2018
in the case of Brian Anthony Wright – 1st January 2015
in the case of Ian Kiernan – 1st January 2013
in the case of Paul Shannon – 1st January 2013

13th December 2002

Notes for Editors:
There is an international warrant issued for Brian Brendan Wright. Brian Anthony Wright was awarded a prison sentence of 16 years following his trial at Woolwich, Ian Kiernan was awarded a prison sentence of 20 years, Paul Shannon was awarded a sentence for 5 years, although having served some time in custody Paul Shannon is no longer in prison. Barrie Wright, who was found not guilty on charges related to importation of drugs, is thought to be currently in custody in Belgium.