New Independent Judicial Panel Members Announced

A total of 15 new independent judicial panel members were announced by His Honour Brian Barker CBE QC, the independent Judicial Panel Chairman to the British Horseracing Authority on Thursday. The previous judicial panel members' term expires at the end of the month and the new members will begin their duties on Sept. 1 for a term of three years.

The role of the new members will be responsible for holding enquiries under the Rules of Racing, hearing appeals against the BHA's racecourse stewards' decisions and, where appropriate, imposing penalties in accordance with the rules. The new panel was selected by Barker with the help of Deputy Judicial Panel Chairman, Bruce Blair QC, Philip Freedman, formerly Chairman of the Horsemen's Group, Lydia Hislop, journalist and analyst and Jeremy Lane, a BHA People and Culture Department advisor. The new chairmen and members are as follows:

Chairmen:

• Timothy Charlton QC
• His Honour Philip Curl
• David Fish QC
• William Norris QC
• James O'Mahony

Members:

• Austin Allison
• Anthony Connell
• Tim Etherington
• Chloe Fairley
• Lyn Griffiths
• Jodie Mogford
• Alison Royston
• Rachel Spearing
• Ian Stark OBE
• Steve Winfield

Judicial Panel Secretary Shirley Cowan will continue to act as the sole conduit between the BHA and the independent Judicial Panel. For more information on the panelists, go to www.britishhorseracing.com.

“The appointment process for these important positions has been an extensive one,” said Barker. “I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time and effort to apply and we were very fortunate again to have such a high number of quality applications. I'm pleased that we have been able to put in place a panel which combines greater diversity of skills and experience, combining significant legal expertise with in-depth horse racing knowledge.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the departing Panel members for all of their time, expertise and assistance in the last three years.”