Andrew Rodgerson threatened to kill Conduit
Fearing he would have to pay out if Conduit won the last races in the accumulator bet, Andrew Rodgerson threatened to kill the horse.
Conduit was worth £750,000 in July, when the threats were made.
The man who threatened to kill this top racehorse, unless it was withdrawn from a race at Ascot was given a suspended sentence jail term today.
Andrew Rodgerson, 26, made the threats after he forgot to place a series of bets on behalf of a syndicate and realized he would owe the group £50,000 if the last bet of the accumulator came in. This would require the race favourite, Conduit, to win in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Rodgerson, of Balderstone near Rochdale, sent text messages and emails to Peter Reynolds, the general manager for Ballymacoll Stud Farm in Ireland, which owns the 2008 St. Leger winner.
Just ten days before the race last July, he texted Reynolds: “Dear Peter, we would just like to warn you should Conduit run in the King George then the horse will be killed.”
Rodgerson then followed with an email five days later saying: “I don’t believe you are taking the threat of death to Conduit very seriously.”
He warned there were people “in and around Newmarket (where Conduit is trained) who are ready and willing. There will also be people around at Ascot on Saturday.”
Rodgerson had used his own mobile phone and computer to send the messages and Reynolds informed the police. He was arrested at his home two days before the King George, which Conduit subsequently won. Rodgerson admitted making the threats and pleaded guilty to threatening to commiting damage at an earlier hearing at Bolton Crown Court, after an initial charge of blackmail was dropped.
Judge Angela Nield sentenced him to 34 weeks in jail, suspended for two years and said: “If offences such as this are not dealt with seriously, then the (horseracing) industry will be undermined and those who work in it risk their livelihood being damaged and the manner in which they operate being altered for good.”
Rodgerson was also ordered to perform 240 hours of community service. When interviewed by police, he told them he had a gambling habit since the age of 19, but the problem had grown worse in the 12 months leading up to his arrest.
The betting ring he was involved in required him to obtain the best available odds for people who would ask him to place money on horses.
Defending Rodgerson, Joseph Hart said Rodgerson had mistimed the bet on Conduit when he had a busy day at work on his job at a local travel agency. He said his client had been “utterly terrified” at the consequences of not paying back the mooney because he was acting for men he believed to be “shadowy”. “He thought perhaps they would be people who would hurt him,” said Hart.