Capt Mark Phillips attended court today as his lawyers fought to have a health
and safety prosecution against his company dismissed.The company, Equiland Ltd,
and two other defendants deny health and safety charges following the death of a teenage quad bike rider on the Gatcombe Park
estate.
After two days of legal argument at Bristol Crown Court, Judge David Ticehurst
found in the defendants’ favour, ruling that the case should be “stayed as an abuse of process”.
The prosecution said it may appeal and the case was adjourned until next Thursday.
If the prosecution does not appeal the case will be dismissed.
(Source: Telegraph.co.uk – 30 April 2008)
Related Information
The HSE have produced an information sheet providing
guidance on the safe use of All Terrain Vehicles (ATV's) – quad bikes
New South Wales Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald has publicly attacked
the federal quarantine service, saying blame for the horse flu outbreak rests solely with it.
The frequently asked questions section relating to The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment)
Regulations 1992 was updated on 25 April 2008.The Regulations require
employers to minimise the risks in VDU work by ensuring that workplaces and jobs are well designed.
They apply where staff habitually use VDUs as a significant part of their normal work. Other people,
who use VDUs only occasionally, are not covered by the requirements in the Regulations (apart from the workstation requirements).
However, their employers still have general duties to protect them under other health and safety at work legislation.
A rider is in critical condition after a fall at the Rolex Three-Day Event
in Lexington, and two horses have to be euthanized.Twenty-four-year-old Laine
Ashker and her horse Frodo Baggins fell at fence 5.She was airlifted to the
University of Kentucky hospital where she remains in a stable but critical condition in intensive care. She suffered a broken
jaw, a broken collar bone, and multiple fractured ribs. Frodo Baggins, was diagnosed
with a fracture at the base of his skull, as well as severe lung injury.Euthanasia
was considered to be the most humane option for the horse.Another horse, "The Quiet Man", was critically injured during the competition and was also euthanised. His
rider Sarah Hansel escaped serious injury.
TWO rottweilers that are believed to have mauled a horse to death were shot
by police officers.
Police received a call at around 1.40am to say that two rottweiler dogs were
attacking a horse in a field off Clough End Road, Haslingden. When officers arrived at the scene they found the horse lying
dead in the field after what appeared to have been a savage attack by the two dogs.
The latest International Equestrian Federation figures show eventing falls
are decreasing, but rotational falls are up with a quarter of riders involved in such falls being severely injured or killed.
(Source Horse & Hound online -
26 April 2008)
Related International Equestrian Federation (FEI) information:
The final report of the six-month equine influenza inquiry has been released
to Australia's federal government.Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said in a
statement that he had received it, and would take the time needed to thoroughly review it before making any decision on its
recommendations.No time for its public release has been given.
A Hungarian singer ended up in the orchestra pit after the horse he was sitting
on bolted mid-performance when he broke into song at a musical adaptation of Geza Gardonyi's, The Stars of Eger at
the national theatre in Szeged, Hungary.
Vaccinations to prevent horses from contracting the potentially deadly West
Nile Virus are being encouraged during the West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week.
Seventy firefighters were called to a barn fire that claimed the lives of four
sheep and three lambs at Dogdean Farm, Smugglers Lane, Furzehill in the early hours of Monday morning (21 April).
10 horses were moved out of the nearby stable yard.
Unqualified farriers could work in the UK due to a loophole in new legislation
that allows individuals qualified in other EU countries to practise here, says farriers' groups
A Surrey man has been banned from owning horses for 10 years after pleading
guilty to keeping a stallion — Dobbin — confined in a small shack for months on end
A rider has died at the Ballindenisk One-Day Event organised by Eventing Ireland in County Cork.
Karen Rodgers fell from her horse Kilcoltrim Brigade while riding the cross-country
course and was killed in what has been described as a freak accident, a fall at the second last fence which was a water jump.
Speaking to United States Equestrian Association online, theRolex Kentucky three-day event course designer and Director of Sport for British Eventing,
Mike Etherington Smith, gives his view of incidents and what he thinks the future will hold.
After a four-day trial, a 34-year-old Silsoe woman has been found guilty
of causing unnecessary suffering to a horse and banned from owning horses and ponies for two years.
Friends and family of a
young farmer who was left paralysed after he was crushed by a one-ton bale of hay are holding a fundraising equestrian day.
The fundraising event is taking
place on Saturday June 28 at Croft Top Equestrian Centre in Stone Fold near Accrington with proceeds going to the air ambulance
service.
