KAH APPEALS LENGTHY BAN
JAMIE Kah has launched Supreme Court action to dismiss the charge of giving false and/or misleading evidence to stewards during a probe into the Mornington Airbnb gathering.
Kah’s lawyers lodged the grounds of appeal to commence the legal proceeding after the Victorian Racing Tribunal on Friday suspended the jockey for a further two months.
The penalty means Kah, now serving a three-month ban for the Covid-19 breach on August 25, cannot ride in races until late January.
The trigger for the Supreme Court escalation is not the suspension, as such, but that her integrity has been questioned.
Kah was prepared to plead guilty to unintentionally misleading the stewards, but would not accept that she ever gave “false” evidence or intentionally misled the stewards.
She is said to be very disappointed with the stewards’ submissions on the penalty that she had shown no remorse, despite them being well aware of her extreme level of distress.
Kah was experiencing personal issues at the time of the gathering, which led her asking friend and apprentice jockey Celine Gaudray to come over because she needed “someone to talk to”.
“Today I have appealed my conviction by the VRT and penalty imposed upon me to the Supreme Court of Victoria,” Kah posted on her social media. “I have done so because I answered every question asked of me by stewards truthfully and yet I have been found guilty of giving false evidence.
“My reputation, which I have earned by my conduct over my whole life as an honest person, is very important to me.
“I am going to court to defend my reputation as to honesty. It is too important to myself as a person not to.
“I will not be making any further public comment on the matter. The courts will decide the issues.”
The charge stemmed from the 25year-old not naming Mark Zahra when she was asked by stewards on August 26: “Who ended up there?”
Kah interpreted the question as relating to when Victoria Police arrived about midnight to break up the party.
Kah replied with the names of Ben Melham, Ethan Brown and two other non-licensed attendees as having “ended up there”, the point in time when police arrived.
Only in a third interview, on August 30, did Kah, when asked directly about Zahra, confirm he was “briefly” at the property.
Zahra was not at the house when police attended.
In handing down the decision on Friday morning, Judge John Bowman said: “When telling stewards who had been present, you wilfully omitted the name of Mr Mark Zahra.”