Court of Appeal upholds defamation award made to horse racing body's head of security

The Court of Appeal has upheld a €300,000 defamation award made to the head of security of the horse racing regulatory body against the horse racing trainers' organisation.

In 2020 a High Court jury made the award, following a 30-day trial, to Chris Gordon, security head of the Turf Club, now known as the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board (IHRB).

The jury found he had been the subject of an "orchestrated and severe campaign" against his good name by the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA).

In a lengthy judgment, given by Mr Justice Brian Murray, the three judge CoA dismissed all the grounds of the IRTA's appeal against the jury's damages award, which included aggravated and exemplary damages, and its consequential findings were "without foundation."

In his action Mr Gordon claimed he was defamed in a letter about his role in an inspection of the yard of horse trainer Liz Doyle, a daughter of former FG MEP and TD Avril Doyle, who was also present during the inspection.

Mr Gordon (62) sued the IRTA over a letter from its solicitor to a senior Turf Club steward which he said falsely alleged he (Gordon) attempted to entrap Ms Doyle junior into an admission of wrongdoing.

The IRTA denied defamation and following the jury decision, it lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal (CoA).

The CoA comprised of Mr Justice Murray, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan and Ms Justice Una Ni Raifeartaigh dismissed all grounds of the IRTA's appeal.

Giving the court's decision Mr Justice Murray said the appeal had raised questions not only relevant to the quantum of the award made in favour Mr Gordon, but also on other legal issues.

These included questions about the correct legal test to be applied in determining whether a defendant has