IRISH JOCKEY Eddie Ahern was given a 10-year ban by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) tonight following a corruption hearing.
The 35-year-old Group One jockey was found guilty of conspiring to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to the laying of five horses between September 2010 and February 2011. He was also found to have intentionally failed to ensure the horse Judgethemoment was ridden on its merits at Lingfield in January 2011, and of passing on information for reward.
Former West Bromwich Albion football player Neil Clement, 34, was also disqualified from the sport for a total of 15 years over his role in the affair. Ahern’s solicitor, Christopher Stewart-Moore, said his client intended to appeal against both the BHA disciplinary panel’s findings and the severity of the punishment.
“Eddie Ahern is absolutely devastated by the BHA Panel’s findings,” Stewart-Moore said in a statement, according to Britain’s Press Association. “He did not breach the rules of racing as found by the panel or at all and he will be appealing both the findings as well as the very harsh penalties imposed on him.”