Letter from David Hemsley to the ACU General Secretary, Gary Thompson, in response to the decision of the disciplinary court hearing:
8th June 2016
Dear Gary
Re: Disciplinary Court Hearing: Tuesday 31st May 2016.
I am writing to appeal against the decision made during the SCB Disciplinary Court Hearing on 31st May 2016 and confirmed by recorded delivery of mail which was received on the 7th June 2016. Enclosed is a cheque for £300.00 as the appeal fee.
This appeal is being submitted on the level of the fine and is broken down into the severn charges as follows, also additional information is required on what action is being implemented by the SCB on its officials to ensure that similar inflammatory actions are not implemented by its officers in the future.
The Appeal Grounds Directly against the charges:
Article 3.2.5 – No comments of mine were fraudulent in deed the actions of the SCB official were completely such, in that he was dishonest to the paying public at Leicester Speedway.
Article 3.2.7 – The actions of the SCB official were prejudicial to the interests of the sport, namely being dishonest to the public and directly incurring commercial losses to this club which we will seek to reclaim against the fine levied.
Finally on the appeal issue, we will be taking up the major health and safety issue, danger and risk of serious injury or potential death to riders by the licence official by not under his own initiative stopping the starting procedure to heat 13 when the licence official had already turned off the floodlights to the start finish straight of the speedway stadium. We will be seeking Council from our insurers Doodson Broking Group Ltd in terms of the proposed action and remedial measures your staff should implement.
The level of the fine demonstrates the lack of understanding of the current commercial position of British Speedway in a sustainable position, indeed the actions of the licensed official and the commercial impact of this on Leicester Speedway will be demonstrated through this process with evidence that proves the material and ongoing damage of his error. The scale of the fine set against the average weekly income of a speedway fixture is so disproportionate that it indicates to me that the SCB does not wish to see Leicester Speedway operate again this season and wants to influence a change in Management Structure of the Business.
Moreover, I will assert that based upon the commercial and health and safety failings by the SCB directly and indirectly arising from this matter, I will require a full briefing on how the SCB will deal with the appropriate action, training and education of its own officials to ensure that no other members of the BSPA has this issue in the future and our insurers can be informed accordingly to ensure continuity of cover and best practice through continued professional development and learning.
To completion I would also wish to make it clear that the manner and content of the publication of the news of the disciplinary action on the BSPA’s website was prejudicial to the interests of Leicester Speedway, inaccurate in content and misleading and I will again be seeking recompense going forward against the SCB for this matter, the extent of which can not be fully quantified at this time.
Attached to this document is the evidence and report of events that I presented to the BSPA and email communication between myself and Mr Graham Reeve regarding the dates of the appeal.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Your sincerely
David M Hemsley
