Panorama

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I am afraid i can't find an on-line version of yesterday's article implicating the HKJC, but below from the BBC website. Tim McNally is quoted as having expressed that he was "Dissapointed" at the judges ruling. "We sent a confidential report to the UK Jockey Club at their request and our view has always been that the report should remain confidential."
Panorama wins court battle
Panorama has won a High Court battle to allow it to use documents belonging to the Jockey Club's former security chief in a programme investigating alleged corruption in the racing industry.
Giving his decision, Mr Justice Gray at the High Court ruled that the BBC would not "be at risk of committing contempt of court if it were to proceed with the publication of the proposed Panorama programme."
The Jockey Club was granted an injunction on 31 May, which bound Roger Buffham, a former security chief to a confidentiality agreement he signed on leaving his post on 15 August last year.
The agreement prevented Mr Buffham from disclosing information about his work.
Public interest
However, Mr Justice Gray ruled today that Panorama has the right on behalf of public interest to use documents in Mr Buffham's possession, despite strong opposition from the Jockey Club.
He added: "It appears to me that information revealing the existence, or apparent existence, of widescale corruption within racing is of legitimate concern to a large section of the public who either participate in racing or follow it, or who bet on the results of races."
The Jockey Club made no application to appeal against the verdict
Mike Robinson, Editor of Panorama said he was delighted with the decision.
"Panorama has always believed its investigation into corruption in horse racing and whether the Jockey Club has the backbone to regulate the sport and the business of racing is in the public interest," he said.
"We are delighted with today's High Court decision. This underlines Panorama's commitment to serious investigative journalism and the BBC's support for the programme.
The programme will be shown early in the new run of Panorama which begins on 29 September.
Commenting on the outcome of the court action, Christopher Foster, Executive Director of the Jockey Club said:
"The Jockey Club has never wished to stand in the way of the BBC making a programme about criminal activity in racing and the effectiveness of the Jockey Club as regulator.
"However it is also our duty to preserve the confidence of secret intelligence documents, disclosure of which might have made us less effective in carrying out our regulatory role."
The Jockey Club has made no application to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

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JOCKEY CLUB RESPONSE TO HIGH COURT DECISION OVER BBC''S COURT ACTION
Published: 13 September 2002
Commenting on the outcome of the BBC’s court action, Christopher Foster, Executive Director of The Jockey Club said:
“The Jockey Club has never wished to stand in the way of the BBC making a programme about criminal activity in racing and the effectiveness of The Jockey Club as Regulator. We believe that our role should be open to scrutiny provided that scrutiny is fair and balanced.
“However it is also our duty to preserve the confidence of secret intelligence documents, disclosure of which might have made us less effective in carrying out our Regulatory role. The documents at the centre of our dispute with the BBC mostly contain no more than intelligence information which falls well short of being legally admissible hard evidence of wrongdoing.
“The documents came into the hands of the BBC through breach of contract by former Head of Security, Roger Buffham. His employment with The Jockey Club was terminated in September 2001 following a hearing into allegations of gross misconduct. As part of a settlement, he agreed to return all Jockey Club material in his possession and not to disclose any confidential information arising from investigations carried out by our Security Department.
“Mr Buffham has broken that legal agreement. In May, he admitted that he had retained a substantial number of confidential documents and had made these available to sections of the media. The intelligence in some of these documents was secret and sensitive. Its public disclosure potentially could have compromised on-going investigations as well as hampering The Jockey Club’s ability to regulate racing. As a result The Jockey Club obtained an order from the Courts against Mr Buffham to enforce the terms of its settlement agreement.
“The Jockey Club has already agreed that the BBC may use some of the documents, as the information in them was already substantially in the public domain. Following a further court hearing instigated by the BBC, a judge has accepted that The Jockey Club has legitimate reasons to maintain the privacy of its confidential documents. However, he has ruled that due to the need for freedom of expression and to illustrate their programme, certain parts of a limited number of other private documents taken by Mr Buffham may also be used by the BBC. We are deeply disappointed that parts of a few highly classified intelligence documents stolen by an ex-employee and now a paid consultant to the BBC are able to enter the public domain through a side-door.
However, after lengthy discussions with the BBC, resulting in the BBC providing us with important, detailed undertakings, we are satisfied that none of our sources of information ought to be put at any risk of disclosure. We remain confident that these developments ought not to be of concern to persons wishing to deal with our Security Department on a confidential basis.”

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Ah, here is the little bugger. What is the word around town about what the HKJC may have given the UK JC? Assume Egan must crop up somewhere, with the normal triad involvement - should be very interesting!
Sunday September 15 2002
BBC wins court fight to air Club report
Nick Pulford, Racing Editor
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is braced for more unsavoury media coverage in Britain after BBC programme makers won a legal battle to air documents provided by former British Jockey Club security chief Roger Buffham, including a confidential report sent by the HKJC to its British counterpart.
A High Court judge in London on Friday varied an injunction against the BBC's right to use the material on Panorama, its flagship current affairs programme. Mr Justice Gray said the move was 'in the public interest' because of the 'existence, or apparent existence, of widespread corruption in racing'. The Panorama programme is likely to be aired in Britain within the next month and could be shown in Hong Kong via the BBC World channel, which broadcasts selected Panorama documentaries.
Tim McNally, the HKJC's director of security, last night expressed 'disappointment' at the judge's ruling. 'We sent a confidential report to the UK Jockey Club at their request and our view has always been that the report should remain confidential. It should not be released without our authority, knowledge or consent,' he said. 'We sent a communication to Panorama setting out our concerns but have received no response. Obviously we do not approve of the material being made public and we are disappointed that the judge should think otherwise.'
On the wider issues raised by the material's disclosure, McNally added: 'In my job, I have conversations with jockeys which should remain private and confidential. It is extremely important to act on the basis of trust with jockeys and the publication of confidential material potentially jeopardises that relationship.'
The same HKJC report is already believed to have provided the basis of sensational coverage in Britain's News of the World last February, which alleged links between British champion jockey Kieren Fallon and triad members during the rider's stint in Hong Kong. Fallon, who last rode here in the 1999-2000 season, has since lodged a claim for libel against the newspaper's publishers seeking damages in excess of GBP100,000 over the allegations.
Friday's High Court ruling followed a BBC appeal to gain access to certain documents which had been included in an injunction granted on May 31 that bound Buffham to the confidentiality agreement he signed when his employment was terminated by the British Jockey Club 13 months ago. But McNally did not rule out legal moves from the HKJC in a fresh attempt to prevent disclosure of the Hong Kong report's contents on Panorama. 'It would be premature to say anything has been contemplated, but we will explore all the avenues open to us,' he said.
The focus of the Panorama investigation is on British racing and jockeys, but newspaper reports in Britain have suggested that as many as three riders with Hong Kong links could be featured in the programme. The Sunday Morning Post has learned that Panorama has attempted to contact current and former members of the HKJC security team during its six-month investigation, though it is unclear how successful those efforts have been.
McNally admitted that he had been contacted by Panorama early in its investigation. 'I was asked to comment on differences between the regulatory and security systems in Hong Kong and Britain, but I told them I could not comment because I had no working knowledge of racing in Britain,' he said.
Friday's ruling was the BBC's second legal success centred on the programme. In July, bookmaker Victor Chandler was unsuccessful in his legal action against Buffham and Panorama for the return of papers said to have been seized by police during an investigation into race-fixing four years ago.