Robbie dunne

rolling boh

Don't really know all the ins and outs about what happened but rightly or wrongly I think B Frost won't be too popular among a cohort of male jockeys around the weight room . Robbie could be in for a long enough ban by all accounts .

Robbie gets 18 months, with 3 suspended.. A bit harsh.

EDIT An 18 month 'suspension' from the sport that is...

The Verdict:

https://www.irishracing.com/news?headline=Verdict-announced-in-Dunne-case&prid=225626

Jockey Robbie Dunne has been found in breach on all four counts of conduct prejudicial to horseracing after the disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority ruled he had bullied and harassed fellow rider Bryony Frost.

Dunne was charged with seven breaches in total, four of conduct prejudicial to horseracing and three of violent and threatening behaviour, with all but one of those charges denied.

An independent three-person panel, chaired by Brian Barker QC, found the four prejudicial conduct breaches to have been proven, while the latter three are yet to be considered.

The majority of the incidents in question took place in 2020, when Dunne was found by the panel to have threatened Frost by promising to “put her through a wing (of a fence)” and he was also accused of using misogynistic language such as “f****** whore”, “f****** slut” and “dangerous c***” towards her.

The majority of the incidents in question took place in 2020, when Dunne was found by the panel to have threatened Frost by promising to “put her through a wing (of a fence)” and he was also accused of using misogynistic language such as “f****** whore”, “f****** slut” and “dangerous c***” towards her.

Barker said: “Our conclusion on the whole of the evidence is that a course of deliberate conduct over a significant period of time has been revealed.

“This has progressed from distasteful targeting to deliberate harassment on and off the course and onwards to occasional cases of dangerous bullying.

“We find that the words used on September 3 were, as a promise, to cause real harm — over and above the usual jockey mantra of ‘murdering’.

“On the examination of Ms Frost’s evidence and demeanour we find her to be truthful, thoughtful and compelling.

“By taking her complaint to the authority she has broken the code (of the weighing room), knowing that her isolation — and rejection by some — was inevitable.”

He went on: “In acknowledging after the Southwell race Mr Dunne believed that Ms Frost was the cause of his mount’s death and that he had suffered a fall, we are unable to accept Mr Dunne’s sweep of denials, criticisms and his reasons.

“A man who in the view of one of his own witnesses was “a p*** taker” and who regarded himself as one of the elders of the weighing room and someone who expected his view to be heeded.

“Behind the four elements set out in rule (J) 19 we find those proved.

“I’d like to make two further observations. The type of excessive language used towards Ms Frost was totally unacceptable, whatever the frustrations about her style and whatever the habits of the weighing room.

“Secondly, in reviewing the evidence given and their approach, by jockeys of repute, as well as by the valets — who probably find themselves in a difficult position — we have a real concern that what was referred to by Mr Weston as “the weighing-room culture” is deep-rooted and coercive and that in itself is not conducive to the development of modern-day race-riding.”

Barker added: “In our view she (Frost) has supported (her case) in a number of areas. The first is the published comments on the Virtual Grand National, the second is the apology at Bangor, the third is the video of the encounter in the pull-up area at Stratford combined with the independent evidence of the fence attendant.

“Also the acceptance of at least some offensive behaviour at Southwell which was followed by Ms Frost’s report to the BHA, and the evidence of Ms (Hannah) Welch (former amateur jockey), which we also found persuasive in admissible support.”

Addressing the leaked BHA report into the allegations and the suggestion that this may have prejudiced the hearing, Barker said: “It is an unfortunate fact that the preliminary process has been overshadowed by extraordinary and unprecedented leaks, either one leak or two leaks, of confidential information.

“In relation to that, the independent enquiry continues. The fact of that leak has led to both distress and unhelpful speculation.

“Fortunately in recent days most of those subsidiary matters have fallen away and as a result we now view that there has been a thorough public investigation and dissection of the core areas, which, looked at in totality, will be of great concern to many who love, support and enjoy the sport.”

The panel is set to hear submissions on penalties by the BHA and Dunne’s legal team shortly.

kksaints

Very ugly case. Looks like a fairly horrible "self policing" dressing room culture. Ban does seem harsh with regards Dunnes livelihood but in a way he was lucky it wasn't the full three years. Horse Racing hasn't had a good 12 months off the track.

I don't know about the length of the ban but Dunne quite clearly went OTT from everything I've heard/read. It seems to have went from high emotions of a race to something more personal.

Motivator

Frost wasn’t overly popular in the weigh room before all of this and she certainly won’t fare any better now. I think it speaks volumes that not many (if any) fellow jockeys came out, not so much in her defence, but in any of show of support towards her. Other jockeys can keep the weigh room code intact and still come out and say something positive about her but to the best of my knowledge none of them did.

To me, she has this sense of entitlement and plays up on the “female jockey” tag as much as she can. I believe it all stemmed from an incident where a horse Dunne was riding was killed and he had a bad fall. He blamed Frost who accepted zero responsibility and Dunne took issue and gave her a hard time after it. Contrast Frost with Rachel Blackmore. Blackmore is a star of a girl who is very popular with jockeys in Ireland and the UK because she’s just normal. Frost is just aggravating. Did she deserve to be called the names Dunne called her? Probably not, but at the same time an 18 month ban is laughable it really is. 18 months for calling someone a **** and a whore is very extreme. If he waved his Mickey at her fair enough give him a warning or go as far as giving him a caution from the cops for indecent exposure or something but 18 months for this is a dangerous precedent to be setting by the BHA.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118297320#Comment_118297320

I wouldn’t be Bryonys biggest fan, but his behaviour was totally unacceptable in any workplace.

kksaints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118297320#Comment_118297320

Problem seems to be more with the dressing room code which seems to be horrendously out of date and in which harassment is written off as banter. Also the evidence seems to be more to a lengthy period of bullying than just one incident after the fall at Stafford.

Mellish on Racing TV has being going on a rant about jockeys in the weighroom. He didn't think much of what David Bass (jockey and president of the PJA) had to say earlier.. Dunno what he expected from him, or expected him to say - Robbie Dunne is a c@N* , and the behaviour in the weighroom is generally a disgrace... - something like that perhaps..

This will surely run and run anyway...

Will watch Luck On Sunday to get a more overall view about the whole situation.. Seems very blown up imo..

osarusan

If he waved his Mickey at her fair enough give him a warning or go as far as giving him a caution from the cops for indecent exposure or something

He was accused of doing just that to her too:

Dunne was accused of parading naked in front of her after getting out of a sauna at one racecourse. "I remember him opening his towel up and shaking himself, thinking it was funny," Frost said.

https://news.sky.com/story/robbie-dunne-found-guilty-of-bullying-and-harassing-fellow-rider-bryony-frost-12490670

osarusan

The language looks awful, and use of 'whore and '****' is indefensible, but I'd imagine weighing rooms after races are often full of jockeys abusing each other over (actual or perceived) bad riding.

padraig47

It doesn’t matter whether she was liked or not, his behaviour was bullying, according to the evidence Particularly since weighroom was self-policing. There should be a proper complaints procedure. Some of other male jockeys come out of this badly with their “three monkeys attitude”. They should have told him off. He should be grateful to get off so lightly.

Morgans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118297320#Comment_118297320

This is the race where Dunne claimed that Bryony got his horse killed.

https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/...handicap-chase

You say Bryony did not accept any responsibility for this. Dead right, as Dunne was deflecting. Bryony did nothing wrong in this race. IF you look at the third fence, a horse was hit into by another jockey causing it to fall, yet Bryony was apparently dangerous. It was clear evidence that Dunne was bullying Frost for her to be blamed for that. It was the following week that news of bullying emerged. Had he accepted responsibility for the horses death, he could have got away with calling her a c**t, threating to drive her through a rail, and shaking his mickey at her.

Larbre34

Talk of a code of conduct. But to have to remind grown men specifically not to refer to women as w****, s*** or c*** or to shake their naked genitals at them, or anyone, in the first place, means they are starting from a very, very low base.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118297320#Comment_118297320

That’s a pathetic defence of a misogynist bully.

You ought to be ashamed.

Joe_ Public

One of the most troubling accounts of the court testimony I read was seemingly how few of her fellow female riders were willing to back Frost up. This included one rider whom Dunne, as part of his regular banter routine, once bent over a table and pretended to have sex with her. This rider evidently accepted such behaviour as part of weigh-room culture, to be borne stoically and without complaining. Frost did not and had the courage to take it further and do her sport a great service.

Bryony always comes across as very approachable and charming.

chinguetti

Whether you like or dislike Frost, she called Dunne on what was a sackable series of actions in any other job with little support from her profession and most of her colleagues ignored her. She 'spat in her soup' as they'd say in cycling and her own body the PJA have put out a shocking statement saying that she 'felt' bullied after the BHA found that she was bullied and they're backing Dunne from what they said. PJA blaming the BHA is missing the point, they're living in the past and all the jockeys and ex jockeys that backed Dunne or denied anything happened are going to look silly in time. Like any whistleblower, Frost is going to be blamed for all of this happening when it looks like that it was the weighing room culture and if she didn't like it, she could leave or put up with it. Takes fair courage for her to go against the grain and take it the whole way.

Motivator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298526#Comment_118298526

Ah yes, the sweet and wholesome Bryony. A true great of the game.

Motivator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298423#Comment_118298423

I’m not ashamed one little bit.

I’ve been in dressing rooms and involved in teams my whole life. I played different sports for over 20 years and have been coaching the guts of 15 years. Bad language is not tolerated at juvenile level but at adult level it’s a daily occurrence. I’ve seen teammates come to blows and I’ve been on the receiving end of unmerciful abuse that lasted the guts of a year for a mistake that cost us a count championship medal. Did I cry about it and run to the powers that be? No I didn’t, because it’s part and parcel of any competitive sport.

The public outcry over this Frost thing is just a sign of the ridiculous time that we live in. 10 years ago this wouldn’t have been an issue. Virtue signalling is now at the absolute forefront of social media on all issues but particularly this one. People scrambling to the defence of the golden girl of British Racing. If this was a male apprentice jockey there’d be nothing said, there wouldn’t even be an investigation because I can guarantee you it wouldn’t even be an issue. Bryony got called a few names, who gives a ****? The Mickey waving yeah I’d agree Dunne fucked up there and that’s not on but the bringing up the tweeting about the virtual grand National is just pathetic.

The problem David Bass, Alain Cawley, Tom Scu and all the jockeys that backed Robbie Dunne up have with all this is that she has put the focus of the racing and non racing public on every other jockey in the weigh room. The job they are doing is incredibly high pressured and as we’ve seen in the past with Timmy Murphy it can sometimes end up with physical altercations. If Dunne was going around rubbing his balls off her in the weigh room or stealing her knickers out of her gearbag and wearing them on his head then I’d say yeah fair enough he’s acting the bollocks with her. He had a grudge against her and used bad language. If that constitutes bullying so severe that it warrants an 18 month ban from the sport then we may as well pack up all sport altogether. Is she that untouchable that she can’t hack a few bad words thrown at her by someone?

Justin10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298954#Comment_118298954

You're literally talking about sexual assault there at the end, and down playing it.

Difference is, which you don't seem to get, is no one cares about your dad, or any other county final, or how lads talk to each other playing for their club.

The weighing room is a place of work, they are professionals. Its not on and completely ridiculous stuff coming out of the room from fellow professionals.

The grand national tweet was only raised to show he had an issue with her before the time which he stated, the the issue began.

Bryony is certainly not my cup of tea, and I'd hope lads or lassies aren't afraid to give each other an earful going forward, but Dunne seemed to have a real axe to grind with her, and it was on face of things, bullying in the work place.

Motivator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299005#Comment_118299005

Where and how did I downplay sexual assault?

Morgans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299030#Comment_118299030

You are saying that this was about Bryony having a few harsh words said about her.

It wasn't but it suits the Dunne defenders to pretend it was.

As was mentioned earlier, a key factor was Dunne blaming Bryony for a Dunne mount falling unjustifiably. It was a clear and persistent bullying - driven by jealousy obviously.

Dunne got his punishment for being a **** and unfortunately for him he is getting punished for other **** before him who thought waving your Mickey at a young girl was all part and parcel of being a jockey.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298921#Comment_118298921

Bryony literally is a great of the sport.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298954#Comment_118298954

You yourself described what you experienced as 'unmericful abuse' indicating it was a very unpleasant thing to tolerate. How in the name of God someone could experience that and then suggest that that sort of behaviour is normal and should be tolerated is beyond me. If you had a daughter experiencing something she felt was 'unmerciful abuse' would you tell her suck it up and stop complaining? Unfortunately, given you came back with this post to hammer home that you're living in the past, I think you probably would.

Thankfully society is more and more calling out such unacceptable behaviour and time will take care of the regressives who have a problem with that.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299195#Comment_118299195

Bryony literally is a great of the sport.

😁 Thread could use a bit of light relief..

Irrelevant, but #Robbie Dunne, who's been a journeyman most of his career, has more of a claim to 'greatness' than Bryony... A few big wins on Frodon, granted, and a few graded races hardly equals greatness... One Ryanair and King George is hardly banging down any doors into becoming a 'great' of the game..

#He's been around long enough, and surely he has ridden more winners, but he'll never be a great either..

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298954#Comment_118298954

Your attitude is a disgrace, and a not so subtle defence of bullying and sexual harassment.

"Because that's the way it's always been" is no excuse.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299232#Comment_118299232

Behave.

I'd have Bryony on me horse over Dunne any day.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299442#Comment_118299442

😂 It's not in me nature,,

As far as jockey choice; well, I can't really say I disagree a helluva lot.. much of a muchness regards jockeyship the two of them... Don't recall backing too many R Dunne winners, but I reckon you must've had a few good paydays off Frodon 😁

Soon time to head to shop.. Good luck with your future punting endeavours H 2D! 😊

Morgans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299232#Comment_118299232

Irrelevant but also wrong.

I wouldn't class either as a great but one of the pair has won two grade 1s in the last six weeks. 5 in the alst two years. Has Robbie Dunne ever ridden in a grade 1? Given their ages, it's clear who will have made a greater impact, now, on the sport by the time they finish.

@[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299473#Comment_118299473

I've met plenty of jockeys and rode against some of them.

Apologies @[Deleted User] I think I misread your post :)