Jockey Club Add Former Chief Constable and Barrister to Integrity Review Committee

Published: 2 July 2002

Following the lifting of the reporting restrictions on the trials involving the Wright Organisation, the Senior Steward, Christopher Spence, announced the Jockey Club’s intention to reconvene its Integrity Review Committee. On Monday the Committee had their first meeting, with two new independent members present.

Christopher Spence, Senior Steward, said: “When the Integrity Review Committee first met in 1999 they were fully briefed on the activities of the Wright Organisation. Their concerns about such activities were reflected in the Jockey Club’s submission to the Gambling Review Body in 2000 and subsequently in the Jockey Club’s own range of measures introduced in 2001. However, we believe that it is important that the Committee look at the material and evidence that has become available since then.

“In view of the areas that we are dealing with, I felt that there would be great benefit in being able to call upon independent expertise. To this end I invited the barrister Jeremy Gompertz QC and former Chief Constable Ben Gunn to join the Committee. Their extensive experience in law and law enforcement will, I’m sure, prove to be of great value to the Committee in considering whether further measures are required to enhance the integrity of racing so as to ensure the confidence of the punter is maintained.”

July 2nd 2002

Notes for Editors:

1. The terms of reference for the Committee are, in light of the evidence and other material relating to malpractice in racing available since the Committee reported in July 2000, to:-

a) Review the effectiveness of existing Rules, Instructions and procedures and to recommend any additional measures to be taken to ensure the Jockey Club is as well placed as possible to deter, detect and deal with the corruption of horseracing;

b) Consider what further submissions might be made to Government

c) Report to the Jockey Club’s Regulatory Committee in the autumn.

2. The Membership of the Committee is as follows:

Christopher Spence – Chairman Senior Steward of the Jockey Club
Ben Gunn CBE Former Chief Constable
Jeremy Gompertz QC Criminal Barrister
Philip Blacker Former professional jockey, JC member
Sir Michael Connell High Court Judge, JC member
Sir Thomas Pilkington Former Senior Steward of the Jockey Club
Gurney Sheppard Chairman of Security & Investigations C’mittee
Christopher Foster Executive Director
Malcolm Wallace Director of Regulation
Jeremy Phipps Director of Security
Richard Smith Manager of Licensing Department
Graham Walcroft – Secretary Controller of Rules

3. Ben Gunn CBE retired from his position as Chief Constable of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary in June 2002. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1963 before transferring to Special Branch, dealing with counter espionage, subversion and terrorism, where he stayed for 26 years. After a spell as a Chief Superintendent in West London, he returned to Special Branch as Commander for three years before moving to Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1991. In 1994, he was appointed Chief Constable.

4. Jeremy Gompertz QC is a criminal barrister and is currently the legally qualified independent member of the Jockey Club’s Security and Investigations Committee. The Committee’s role is to review and monitor the work of the Security Department to ensure that its operations are conducted within the law and the Rules of Racing.