Trainer is banned for dead horse photograph
HORSE trainer Gordon Elliott has been suspended for a year by the Irish racing authorities over his dead horse photograph.
An image of him sitting on the animal was posted on social media last weekend.
Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, said the picture showed the most “appalling bad taste” and a “complete absence of respect” for the horse.
He said: “Serious damage has been caused to a sport enjoyed and loved by so many.”
Mr Elliott, 43, has apologised for what he said was a “moment of madness”. He added: “I am paying a very heavy price for my error but I have no complaints.
“I was disrespectful to a dead horse, an animal that had been a loyal servant to me and was loved by my staff. I will carry the burden of my transgressions for the rest of my career.”
The last six months of the ban will be suspended.
A GIRL aged 16 died and several others were seriously injured in a knife rampage at a Chinese restaurant.
The diner was described as a “bloodbath” as more than 30 emergency crews rushed to the scene.
A girl was seen crying as she outside in pyjamas covered in blood.
A witness said a paramedic was trying to resuscitate a victim in the street in the village of Treorchy, south Wales.
Mother-of-two Kirby England, 29, who lives opposite, said: “He laid her on the sat floor and was giving her CPR. I could see him doing the pumping actions on her chest. They put screens around her and I didn’t see her being taken away.”
She said that a man, who had been stabbed, was carried by stretcher from the Blue Sky Chinese restaurant.
Builder John Belgrove 46, said: “There was a girl sitting on a pavement. She was in her pyjamas and they were covered in blood. I could see she was sobbing and in a terrible state. I was in my workshop when I heard sirens and saw police everywhere.
“I heard them say that one person was dead and several others badly hurt. It’s shocking, it’s such a quiet village.”
One neighbour said: “Somebody said it was like a bloodbath.”
Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident and are receiving treatment for serious injuries.
Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
IT DOESN’T matter what colour your politics are, the fact is when people get power, it invariably corrupts. Look at Boris and girlfriend Carrie Symonds. They’re renovating their Downing Street flat, which is likely to cost upwards of £200,000. Trouble is Boris can’t afford to pay for it, so questions are now being asked whether Tory HQ is coughing up, which would mean party funds are being used to finance the couple’s lavish lifestyle. On top of that the pair are in hot water for wanting to start a charity to pay for their refurbishments. And their pathetic justification for that, and for hiring Carrie’s “eco” interior designer, Lulu Lytle (who charges £19,000 for a sofa and £12,000 for an owl lantern – whatever the hell that is) is that if theWhite House has a charity that pays to preserve its heritage, why shouldn’t Downing Street?
I’ll tell you why. First, we’re talking about a little flat in central London, not theWhite House. And secondly, because donors would expect “favours” in return for their cash.
No, this is all about Carrie’s ego and her sense of entitlement (I’m pretty sure Boris doesn’t give a stuff about décor), which is spiralling out of control as fast as her interior designer’s bill.
Former boss of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Alistair Graham, says it’s “monstrous”.
He’s right. It’s greedy and it smacks of snout in the trough – not a good look when NHS workers have been offered an insulting one per cent pay rise.