Security chief Gordon insists there was no agenda to entrap trainer Liz Doyle

Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board head of security Chris Gordon told a High Court sitting in Dublin on Thursday he felt Liz Doyle had no reason to feel she was being entrapped during the 2014 stable inspection which was the catalyst for a deterioration in his relations with the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association.

The IRTA defence team, which includes senior counsel Michael McDowell – the former Tanaiste and justice minister and a sitting senator – and Jim Rogers SC, has argued the manner in which the stable investigation was carried out at Doyle's Kitestown House, County Wexford base on March 26, 2014 put the trainer in a precarious position.

A letter of introduction, which Gordon presented to Doyle on the morning of the stable investigation, did not state the Department Of Agriculture would be present, which, Rogers claimed, meant Doyle could not have known what she was dealing with at the time.

Rogers went on to argue that it was fair and reasonable for Doyle to seek the advice of the IRTA, which subsequently had a letter drafted by Ward solicitors and sent to the IHRB over the way in which the random stable inspection was carried out on her premises. It was in that letter that the allegation of entrapment arose.

Security chief claims pressure from trainers compromised his ability to do job

Gordon, who is suing the IRTA for defamation, accepted the way the inspections had been conducted caused "a great deal of upset in the training ranks,” and suggested, with hindsight, that such visits could have been handled differently.

On Monday, the High Court learned the inspection of Doyle's yard followed on from intelligence gathered from the high profile conviction of John Hughes, a retired department vet, for possession of 6kg of Nitrotain at his Carlow home in 2013.

From the witness stand, Gordon has argued that the book of evidence, which related to bank lodgement slips, provided the IHRB with reasonable cause to pursue unannounced stable investigations on the basis of names and initials of possible associates of Hughes being listed in the document.

What Gordon did not realise when arriving at Doyle's yard on the morning of the investigation was that Denis Egan, chief executive of the IHRB, had written Liz Doyle's name, followed by a question mark, on the book of evidence alongside a payment of €200 beside the initials LD.

Denis Egan: the IHRB chief executive had written Liz Doyle's name, followed by a question mark, on the book of evidence alongside a payment of €200 beside the initials LDCredit: Patrick McCann

Gordon, along with his legal team, Tom Hogan SC, instructed by Sean Costello Solicitors, has never denied Egan wrote on the original document but alleges that the ire of the IRTA has been aimed solely at the IHRB head of security in the intervening time period.

Gordon said: “Mr Egan wrote on the document, it wasn't me, and the orchestrated campaign that arose from that was against me – that I had done it. It wasn't against Mr Egan.”

He added: “Mr Egan acknowledged to Avril Doyle [Liz Doyle's mother] that he wrote on the document and nobody ever made a complaint against him. They targeted me and orchestrated a campaign against me.”

Rogers interjected to reaffirm that his client [the IRTA] denied such claims, to which Gordon responded: "That's why we are here, for this to be thrashed out."

Rogers said Doyle subsequently obtained a copy of the original lodgement book, where the initials LD were written on the statement but Liz Doyle and the question mark were absent.

There was no explanation given for the mistake until almost a month later, when Egan discussed the matter via telephone with the trainer’s mother, a former Fine Gael MEP, on April 15, 2014.

The court was told by Gordon it had not been recorded anywhere else that there was an error made, nor was there an apology issued to Doyle on behalf of the IHRB.

When pressed, Gordon accepted there should have been some acknowledgement of the error made to Doyle. However, he claimed that, because of the IRTA letter of complaint to his IHRB employers, it would not have been right for him to issue the apology.

Gordon has not left the witness box since the case resumed on Monday. He is due to be cross examined further on Friday morning.

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