Robbie Dunne given more time to appeal BHA 18-month ban for bullying and harassing Bryony Frost

Dunne found in breach of four counts of engaging in conduct which the BHA considers is prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of horseracing; he was banned from racing for 18 months; Dunne originally given until Jan 12 to appeal but now has until Jan 20

By Conor Stroud

Guardian journalist Greg Wood believes horse racing will benefit from a change in weighing room culture after a BHA panel raised 'concerns' in its report into Robbie Dunne's 18-month ban for bullying Bryony Frost.

Robbie Dunne has been given extra time to appeal the 18-month ban handed to him by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for bullying and harassing fellow jockey Bryony Frost.

The BHA found Dunne in breach of four charges of conduct prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of racing, including bullying and harassing Frost between February 13, 2020 and September 3, 2020.

Dunne was originally given until January 12 to appeal the decision, but on Monday the BHA announced they had agreed to extend the appeal until January 20.

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****** w***e", "f****** s**t" and "dangerous c***" towards her.

Image: The BHA ruled fellow rider Robbie Dunne had bullied and harassed Bryony Frost over a seven-month period in 2020

The BHA published their written reasons for the length of the ban and the guilty verdict on January 6, stating that: "A financial penalty was wholly insufficient to meet the justice of this case. Suspension of licence was inevitable.

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"The matters proved were consecutive, occurred over six months, as time went by deepening in spitefulness, and consequently the words and acts achieving the increasingly chilling effect upon the victim which Mr Dunne intended.

Sunday Times chief sports writer David Walsh explains how he came to be in possession of a detailed report into the Bryony Frost and Robbie Dunne bullying case prior to a formal hearing taking place, which found Dunne guilty

"As well as falling foul of the regulations as pleaded, such behaviour, from someone who presented himself as one of the elders of the sport, setting standards and allegedly offering wise counsel to junior jockeys was hypocritical."

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"The proper approach was to fix a cumulative period and to impose it concurrently for each offence."

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