Bryony Frost: 'The PJA weren't there for me and their system isn't good enough'

Bryony Frost says she felt she had no choice but to go to the BHA under the weight of the campaign of intimidation and threats from fellow jockey Robbie Dunne, even though most people around her in racing urged her to "take it on the chin".

In her first major interview since Dunne was handed an 18-month ban from the sport by an independent judicial panel last week, Frost told The Sun that the Professional Jockeys Association made her feel like "an inconvenience" and she felt badly let down by the senior leadership of her own trade body.

The BHA investigated Frost's claims for more than a year before bringing the case, with panel chair Brian Barker concluding at the end of the hearing that Dunne's behaviour "progressed from disgraceful targeting, through deliberate harassment both on and off the course, and onwards to occasional cases of dangerous bullying".

Describing her decision to go to the BHA, Frost said: "The world I was in was like, 'take it on the chin, brush it under the carpet, it will be OK in time'.

"But it was increasing in momentum and getting worse. I'd work, I'd race, I'd come back and on to the next one.

Robbie Dunne (left) leaving the BHA at the end of day two of his disciplinary hearingCredit: Edward Whitaker

"There were times I thought life shouldn't just be about day-to-day living. My last resort was taking it to the BHA. I knew it was never going to stop but I had to give something a go because it was getting worse."

The PJA has come in for sustained criticism in its approach to the case, which it demanded should be dismissed before the hearing began when details of the prosecution case found their way into The Sunday Times.

The PJA also issued a statement in the wake of the decision last Thursday which many observers argued was ill-judged and inflammatory, and which chief executive Paul Struthers was forced to partially walk back in interviews over the weekend.

In The Sun interview Frost was unsparing in her criticism on the way the PJA had handled a case arising between two of its own members.

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"They weren't there for me and their system isn't good enough," said Frost. "I felt like an inconvenience. There was no care or interest from them even when it reached the stage of the hearing.

"They just basically said that time would fix it. They wanted to ignore it until it went away.? I don't feel they saw what I was going through as being as serious as it was.

"They were meant to be neutral, they weren't there to pick sides."

Frost said she had not been made aware that the PJA had called for the case to be dropped and said she had not seen the statement issued last Thursday after the hearing ended.

Paul Struthers: PJA chief executive has come under fireCredit: Edward Whitaker

Frost said: "You're not going to get on with everyone but it's about treating people with respect and dignity.

"They are the jockeys' voice, there to help all the members, but one of the PJA heads likened my scenario to his having a spat with a local cricket player in a Sunday afternoon village game.

"He said it was the same and we should just get on with it. The PJA are under water, they're drowning and not accepting they are."

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In addressing how she felt the sport could move forward from what has clearly been a distressing experience for her, Frost added: "I am hoping the authorities can now go on and do their jobs. Not by putting a piece of paper in the weighing room saying 'call this number,' but to offer proper help.

"And not just in terms of jockeys but the whole of industry, from stable lads and lasses right to the top. Help on how people conduct themselves, on what is and isn't acceptable."

Robbie Dunne has seven days to appeal against the verdict or the severity of his punishment from when the independent panel hands down its full written verdict.

Read more on this subject:

Robbie Dunne banned for 18 months for bullying and harassing Bryony Frost

PJA chief accepts Bryony Frost was bullied rather than 'felt bullied'

BHA integrity boss Tim Naylor urges calm over 'inflamed tempers'

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