sport news Robbie Dunne is found guilty of harassing and bullying top female rider Bryony ...

sport news Robbie Dunne is found guilty of harassing and bullying top female rider Bryony ...
sport news Robbie Dunne is found guilty of harassing and bullying top female rider Bryony ...

National Hunt jockey Robbie Dunne did harass, bully and threaten the country's most successful female rider, Bryony Dunne, a British Horse Racing Authority disciplinary panel has concluded.

Dunne, 36, has been found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the reputation of horse racing in his treatment of Frost, 26, which could result in a fine of up to £15,000 and a ban up to three years.

He was accused of abusing his rival allegedly calling her a ‘whore’, ‘slut’ and ‘c***’ at various races last year and threatening to ’put her through a wing [fence]’ at Southwell.

The ruling, following a week-long hearing, will shake National Hunt racing to its core since the case has shone a spotlight on incidents of misogyny and bullying, which went unchallenged by fellow jockeys, staff and stewards.

In a sport that prides itself on offering an even playing field for men and women to compete against each other, Frost’s testimony has raised difficult questions about weighing room culture.

A QC-led three-person independent panel was told that Dunne was a self-appointed enforcer of 1950s traditions among jockeys, who police each other’s behaviour in a dangerous sport.

Reporting the first part of their judgement, the panel chairman, Brian Barker QC, said: 'Our conclusion, is a course of deliberate conduct over a significant period of time has been revealed.

'This progressed from distasteful targeting through deliberate harassment and on and off the course and onwards to occasional cases of dangerous bullying.'

Robbie Dunne (pictured) was accused of abusing and threatening Bryony Frost

Frost claimed that she was bullied and harassed by her fellow jockey

Robbie Dunne (L) was accused of verbally abusing and threatening Bryony Frost (R) 

As well as threatening to put Frost 'through a wing', Dunne was also accused of threaten to cut up the female jockey on the course, something referred to as 'murdering' in jump racing. 

Mr Barker added: 'We find the words used on September 3 [at Southwell] were a promise to cause real harm were over and above the usual ‘jockeymantra’ of ‘murdering’. '

Jockeys lined up to dispute Frost’s account of what was said when and cast doubt on her claims of bullying, but the panel has believed the evidence of the female rider.

The case against Dunne concerned three races last year – Uttoxeter, Stratford and Southwell - when he was accused of abusing Frost and threatening to hurt her.

However, Frost claimed these incidents were in fact a culmination of years of mocking and bullying

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