[NoChanceToDance]

From Racing Post........
Undercover officer in cat-and- mouse chase with Rodgers, court told


by Paul Eacott



AN undercover police officer who tailed professional gambler Miles Rodgers for more than 140 miles as part of a surveillance operation on Tuesday told the Old Bailey how he pretended to be a drink driver after he feared his cover had been blown.

Detective Constable Robert Stirling, of Cityof London police, told the jury at the race-fixing trial involving six-time champion jockey Kieren Fallon how he followed a silver Mercedes driven by Rodgers from South Yorkshire to Cambridgeshire on May 26, 2004 before being involved in a cat-and- mousechase with the vehicle through the dark lanes of the Suffolk countryside in the early hours of the following morning.

The court heard how Stirling's unmarked police car encountered the Mercedes, which contained Rodgers and three other men, near the village of Cowlinge – where Fallon lived at the time – shortly after 1.00am.

The car, which is alleged to have been driven Rodgers, and contained two of the other men facing charges on conspiracy to defraud, Shaun Lynch and Philip Sherkle, and a man the prosecution claim is Daniel Kinahan, was said to have turned off the Newmarket Road on to a country track when being pursued by Stirling, allowing Stirling to pass him.

Moments later, Stirling was aware the Mercedes was behind him, and when he himself left the main road and turned off his engine and lights, the Mercedes “came right up behind” him and sat for about “60 seconds” with its headlights on full beam.

Stirling told the court how he then headed back to Newmarket, where he informed a colleague of the incident. As he stood at the kerbside, he said the Mercedes drove alongside. “I could see Miles Rodgers,” Stirling said, “he was driving the car.”

The jury also heard how the silver Mercedes effectively blocked in Stirling's car as it pulled upsides him, with the officer confirming the occupants were “eyeballing” him. And when Stirling found the Mercedes was still behind him shortly after 1.30am as he drove along Newmarket High Street, he decided to take evasive action.

“I saw a marked traffic vehicle at a service area, so I purposefully accelerated over a mini roundabout on the offside and went at speed up the hill towards the racetrack.”

Stirling said he was attempting to draw attention to himself so as to appear as if he was not a police officer, adding that when he was pulled over he asked the uniformed officers to carry out a breath test and check over his car. As this was occurring, he told the court he saw the silver Mercedes drive past. Asked who was at the wheel, he responded: “It was the same man. . . it was Miles Rodgers.”

The jury also saw surveillance footage from the Westgate Hotel in Harrogate on the afternoon of the 26th, as well as the Bedford Lodge Hotel in Newmarket later that evening, from where Shaun Lynch made numerous phone calls and sent text messages to Fallon prior to the incident involving DC Stirling.

Earlier, doubts had been raised over some of the police surveillance at Leicester racecourse on May 18 2004 .

Pc Mark Lowe, told the jury that he saw two white men leave the racecourse and get into Rodgers' Mercedes. One was about 5ft 6ins while the other was 6ft.

Lowe claimed co-defendant Shaun Lynch got into the car, with Rodgers at the wheel, and was followed several minutes later by two other unnamed men. They all drove to Leicester airport.

However, Christopher Sallon QC, for Shaun Lynch, claimed the officer was mistaken, and that he had actually seen two short men, Seb Sanders and Darryll Holland, who are both about 5ft 3ins.

Sallon also suggested the two riders were joined by Fallon and, in total, there were five men in the car, rather than four, as recorded by the police. He said: “I'm going to suggest that you are just wrong about it and you have missed a crucial piece of observation, which was that Kieren Fallon was one of those who got into the car and all of the men, save for the driver, got into the car at the same time.”

Lowe replied: “What I saw is in my statement.”

John Kelsey-Fry QC, representing Fallon, also challenged the surveillance evidence on the same night. According to the police log, when Shaun Lynch called Rodgers on his mobile phone at 8.49pm that night he was already in the Mercedes with Rodgers.

Kelsey-Fry argued that it was a “matter of common sense” that Shaun Lynch got into the car after 8.49pm, otherwise Rodgers would have been sitting next to him when Lynch called.

Rodgers, Sherkle and Shaun Lynch, Fallon and his weighing room colleagues Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams, all deny charges of conspiring to defraud Betfair customers.

Rodgers also denies concealing the proceeds of crime.

The trial continues.


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So Rodgers and Co were close to Fallon's house at about 1am. If Fallon wasn't involved with them or there was nothing 'fishy' going on, why would they be seemingly going to see him at that time.

Then start following the policeman who was orginally following them if they weren't up to something?

Fallon is involved, i think there is little doubting that, but is there enough evidence to show that.