BRITAIN:Champion jockey Kieren Fallon (42) lost his alleged race-fixing conspirators money by winning races he was allegedly supposed to lose, an Old Bailey jury heard yesterday.
The jockey at one point lost the so-called "bet to lose" syndicate almost £500,000 (€724,500).
The alleged ring-leader of the conspiracy, Miles Rodgers was heard by the jury in recordings of an intercepted phone call saying he thought Fallon was unpredictable and even sometimes almost "not right in the head".
The jury heard how unnamed backers of the syndicate - described by co-accused Mr Rodgers as intimidating - wanted to visit Fallon to "talk to him" to find out how they would recoup their "lost" earnings.
Mr Fallon is one of six defendants charged with defrauding the on-line bookmakers Betfair and its account holders by conspiring to make horses lose races between 2002 and 2004.
Mr Fallon who lives in Co Tipperary, Fergal Lynch who has an address in Yorkshire, Shaun Lynch of Belfast, Darren Williams from North Yorkshire, Philip Sherkle of Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Mr Rodgers from Barnsley, were all given permission to leave the dock and sit with counsel during the trial.
The two Lynch brothers are childhood friends of Mr Fallon from when he grew up in Co Clare.
The champion jockey denies the charge but yesterday Jonathan Caplan QC, for the Crown, outlined to the jury evidence of what he said was contact between Mr Fallon and Mr Rodgers through intermediaries: fellow jockey Fergal Lynch (29) his older brother Shaun Lynch (38) and barman Mr Sherkle (42).
Mr Fallon, who has always maintained he neither knew nor had dealings with Mr Rodgers, a one-time betting syndicate manager blacklisted by the Jockey Club, was simply being much more cautious than his co-accused, said Mr Caplan.
He produced records of mobile phone calls and texts as well as police recordings of phone calls made by Mr Rodgers in which he discussed the champion jockey and how he was working for the syndicate and would have to make up his "losses".
Using computer and video displays Mr Caplan led the jury through a sample of three so-called "fixed" races. In August 2004 coming in third on the then favourite "Goodwood Spirit" Mr Fallon allegedly made £30,000 for Miles Rodgers, said Mr Caplan.
He used seven different accounts on the online betting exchange Betfair laying out a total of £117,000 on Goodwood Spirit for net winnings of winning some £30,000, Mr Caplan said.
"The prosecution alleges that Mr Rodgers's confidence to lay the horse for that amount of money came from what happened earlier that day, that is to say the mobile telephone contact he had with others in the conspiracy - in this case Mr Fallon through the intermediary Philip Sherkle," he said. Mr Sherkle is a mutual acquaintance of some of the unnamed conspirators who are said by the prosecution to live in Spain.
That was just one of 17 races run by Mr Fallon out of a total of 27 races at the centre of the investigation, he said.
The scale of the enterprise was demonstrated by the fact that during the period of the alleged fraud Mr Rodgers bet over £2.1 million on horses ridden by Fallon and fellow jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams. All bets were for the horses to lose.
The prosecution will continue its opening statement today.