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He’s handing in his licence. More or less broken by the lawyers for Chris Kinane’s family.
His friend and assistant gets kicked in the head and disabled. Now he and his owner are being reduced to bankruptcy by an accident they could have done nothing about.If that is the cause of him having to take a break then it is very sad.
A very difficult situation and one which, even if he were to successfully defend an action, would take, and indeed appears to already have taken, a heavy toll.
He was insured for only one million. They want at least three times that. Chris Kinane is thought not to be well enough to have made this decision himself.
If Chris Kinane needs full time medical care for the rest of his life this will cost well over £1 million.
The lawyers who represent Chris Kinane should be looking to get the best possible deal they can for their client. That is their duty.
If this serious injury had happended to anyone of us when attending a race meeting we would want our families to receive the best possible settlement in order to employ full time nursing care probably for the rest of our lifes.
There are apparently well tailored insurance policies to cover all injuries caused by all animals whether or not it is your dog biting someone or your horse kicking someone.
The family of the stable lass that lost her life on the James Given gallops last year I believe recieved nothing as it was deemed an accident with no blame attached to any party.
Ian Semple was according to the Racing Post employed on a salary so why was his employer not taking out an insurance policy to cover any incidents such as this?
If it were the man who sweeps up the horse droppings in the parade ring that got kicked would we all be so worried? I dont think so but the support (and cost) he would need if he suffered the same injuries would be exactly the same.
It is a sorry state of affairs but so far the likes of the Racing Post has just reported the matter why don’t they start an appeal from readers to assist the owners and Ian Semple?
Why cant racecourses hold an appeal? Why can’t C4 on the morning line start some fund to assist Ian Semple? Why can’t some other wealthy trainers assist one of their own?
I think I may have said this before but doesn’t anyone entering the parade-ring do so at their own risk?
Colin
Isn’t there already a foundation/charity set-up for him?
By the way most professional indemnity policies have a single claim limit of £1 million.
Also, could someone enlighten me as to exactly what the incident was and where it took place?
Aragorn,
Yes, there was a fund set up by some of Ian William’s owners that raised over a quarter of a million pounds, but it has now been closed down having achieved the original objective of helping with the purchase of a suitable adapted new home for Chris Kinane and his family – see Racing Post 16th September.
The injury occurred in the parade ring at Wolverhampton just over two years ago. Chris Kinane, workng as assistant to Ian Williams, was kicked in the head by a horse trained by Ian Semple. He was in a coma for several weeks, and has been in and out of hospital ever since for numerous operations.
The current situation simply confirms that there is no situation so bad that a lawyer can’t make it worse.
AP
As far as I know there is no foundation set up to help Ian Semple. There is one to help Chris Kinane’s wife and family.
Chris Kinane was kicked in the head by a horse he had taken to Wolverhampton. The accident happened in the parade ring.
Ian Semple was not at the course at the time. The horse’s owner, who obviously could have done nothing to prevent the accident, was not insured also faces bankruptcy and the collapse of his business
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Perhaps signs do say you enter the parade ring at your own risk, but this doesn’t make any difference as far as liability is concerned.It just makes me angry it really does.
He is the most genuine man you could ever meet, he has helped me out a lot and always gives you his time. It is a real shame. Maybe he needs this break though but it’s just not fair this Chris Kinane situation, you could hardly call it Ian’s faultQuote – The horse’s owner, who obviously could have done nothing to prevent the accident, was not insured also faces bankruptcy and the collapse of his business
Shouldn’t it be a condition of owning/entering a racehorse to race under rules that owners have indemnity insurance in place? Like taking a car onto the road?
Surely something that Wetherby’s could manage (i.e. just don’t allow any entries for a particular horse until they have an insurance certificate covering public indemnity for it).
Cormack,
Even if the owner had liability insurance, there would be the usual ceiling on the payout for a single claim and Kinane’s lawyer’s are asking for more than that amount, so the situation would be no better.
You might just as well ask why Kinanes employer’s insurance doesn’t cover this – as a trainer, Ian Williams would have to have insurance, but it presumably only covers his own premises.
What about the racecourse – why don’t they have insurance for accidents on their grounds.
AP
I would have thought that the racecourse would have to show that they had completed risk assessements which assessed the safety of people in contact with horses on their premises.
Would the liability situation would be different had it been a member of the public rather than someone working and authorised to be in that area of the course at the time.
The whole situation is unsatisfactory.
Horse-racing by it’s very nature (i.e. it involves horses) will be prone to occasional serious accidents.
It also generates huge amounts of money for private interests, including racecourses and bookmakers. There is a whole industry built around and reliant upon racing, and this employs thousands of people in various capacities.
From time to time, there will be incidents like the one which occurred at Wolverhampton and left Chris Kinane seriously injured. Fortunately, these are few and far between, but the industry must be (and is) aware that these risks exist.
I would have thought that the current position whereby there is no ‘corporate’ insurance is unfair and untenable. Those trainers and owners on whom the sport relies really ought to speak together on this – strike even(!) – and force the powers that be into providing a safety net.
The overall cost (given the tiny number of incidents) would not be astronomical, and the threat of personal bankruptcy could be avoided. Obviously, cases where gross negligence was clear or could be proved would be dealt with appropriately, but at least people like Ian Semple wouldn’t end up paying for misfortune and accident with their livelihoods…
When the revolution comes it’ll be a tight call as to which of the ATR advertsisers is line up against the wall first.
Carol Vorderman loans, IVA wallahs (great to see them taking a bath recently), the subprime loan sharks, spoils and sadjokes all have strong claims. But surely the ambulance chasing lawyers would be a short priced jolly for the first bullets.
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