I'm still getting caught up but this is from RP on Thursday.....
Prosecution witness admits to ‘misleading' statement
by Paul Eacott
.
THE opening witness called for the prosecution in the race-fixing trial involving Kieren Fallon and five other men at the Old Bailey on Thursday admitted that part of the statement he gave to police was “downright misleading”.
David O'Reilly, Betfair's legal adviser, returned to the witness box for cross-examination in the delayed afternoon session after earlier telling the court that the accounts controlled by Miles Rodgers were responsible for more than 40 per cent of all lay bets on the horses in question on the exchange in 17 out of the 27 suspect races.
O'Reilly had also said that accounts believed to be operated by Rodgers matched more than 60 per cent of all lay bets on four horses in the races in question – including when Rodgers' own horseLegal Set was beaten at Lingfield on December 30, 2002, the first race under suspicion.
He had told Court 12 that the betting activity on the Rodgers-controlled accounts was responsible for dramatic pre-race drifts on a number of occasions, but later had to admit that this had been misleading as the data supplied to the court for eight of the races had included bets placed in running.
In the statement he gave to police, O'Reilly had said Levitator had been a “good” example of a drifter when he finished second under Fallon at Leicester on June 14, 2004, but under questioning on Thursday admitted he eased only from 13-2 to 8-1 on the exchange before the off, with the highest prices matched by the Rodgers-controlled Betfair accounts of 11-1 coming in running.
Peter Kelson QC, representing Rodgers, said to O'Reilly: “You gave assurances in your statement that Levitator was a good example of drifting, but, in fact, that is not a good example. Would you accept it's downright misleading?”
“Yes, I would accept that,” responded O'Reilly.
The court also heard how only 1.83 per cent – £37.02 – of the money matched by the Rodgers accounts on Cd Europe on February 18, 2003 came at a top price of more than 28-1 (29.14), with the remainder coming at much lower prices. O'Reilly had not mentioned the Cd Europe race in his original statement, it was claimed, and it appeared only in his second statement, dated March 10, 2005, at the request of investigating officers from City of London police.
Earlier, O'Reilly had told the court that Rodgers had held an account with Betfair – and was thought to be using 12 other names – in December 2002. The account registered in the name of his then partner Joanne Richardson was in the top one per cent of Betfair users in volume terms.
O'Reilly said the accounts “frequently bet quite heavily on the same horse in the same race”.
He added: “Nine or ten of these accounts were registered in the Sheffield area. Some were accessed from the same computer and four used the same password.”
He said that the accounts were “generally taking the strong position against the one horse – that that horse will lose”.
This, however, was another claim that was refuted by Kelson, who later told the court that when Rodgers laid the Darren Williams-ridden Chispa to win £1,260 when he finished third at Newcastle on March 24, 2003, he also backed Legal Set, the 5-2 favourite who was ridden by Fergal Lynch and finished second, for £1,750, so in fact lost £490 on the race with Betfair.
The court also heard how Rodgers placed six bets on the phone using the account registered to Richardson, and was never challenged as to why somebody who was evidently male was betting on an account registered to a female. O'Reilly added that this “is something we have subsequently changed”.
Rodgers, who also faces charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Fallon, Lynch, Williams and two other men, Shaun Lynch and Philip Sherkle, deny all charges against them.
The case continues on Friday.
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