• Banned trainer questions disciplinary panel’s independent status[br]• Panel chairman’s firm had in the past been paid by BHA for adviceRacing’s ruling body has defended its decision to ban the trainer Paul Gilligan,despite the clear possibility that his case may hold to be reheard. The disciplinary panel in the case was chaired by Matthew Lohn, a solicitor whose independent status has been challenged in a separate case involving the trainer Jim Best which will come before an appeal panel in three weeks time.
The disciplinary panel that heard Best’s case was also chaired by Lohn, and after which it emerged that Fieldfisher,the firm in which Lohn is senior partner, has in the recent past been paid by the British Horseracing Authority for advice on non-disciplinary things. Best’s lawyers hold appealed on several grounds, or one of them based on the assertion that Lohn should not hold been on a panel that is supposed to be independent of the BHA.
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Source: theguardian.com