BRITAIN:The jurors in the trial of former champion jockey Kieren Fallon were told yesterday that it was a "complex but interesting" case.
The seven women and five men were sworn in at the Old Bailey and told they will be put in charge of the case on Monday.
Mr Justice Forbes told them this would entail the indictment being read to them and the opening of the case. The judge said delays had been caused by a flood in the courtroom and work by lawyers to reduce the number of witnesses who would be called. But he said that unfortunately this did not necessarily mean the four-month trial would be shortened. He appealed to the jurors to be patient because the work taking place was to make the trial more efficient.
The six-time champion jockey and five other men deny being part of a race-fixing scam in which horses were made to lose.
Fallon (42) is being tried alongside fellow jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams. Also charged are Lynch's brother, Shaun, former racing syndicate director Miles Rodgers and Philip Sherkle. They deny conspiracy to defraud between December 2002 and September 2004 by interfering with the running of horses to ensure they lost races, defrauding Betfair online betting exchange punters and others putting money on the races.