Richard Johnson and Tom Scudamore lead all-star parade of defence witnesses

There was a moment during the BHA legal team's cross-examination of Robbie Dunne on Tuesday morning when the counsel for the prosecution drew quite a detailed picture of how the process had been delayed on several occasions due to the 36-year-old's struggles to assemble a legal team, an issue that dated from April this year.

But if Dunne had initially found it difficult to convince the legal profession to take his case then there was no shortage of starry names from the present and recent past of the jumps weighing room called by the defence, tasked variously with illustrating how run-of the mill they considered interactions between the accused and Bryony Frost were, or else how the leading female rider was unwilling to take constructive advice.

Few figures in the sport command more respect than Richard Johnson – the defence counsel may have been asking for effect when he requested a reminder as to how many times he had been champion jockey – and his physical presence in the inquiry room added to the impression of a father figure.