'There has to be a deterrent' - Jamie Osborne seeks prosecution for online abuse

Jamie Osborne believes a successful prosecution of the person behind the horrifying message sent to his daughter on social media is essential to curb online abuse towards jockeys.

Osborne contacted the police on Wednesday evening after his daughter Saffie shared a private message sent to her on Twitter, and the trainer is determined to pursue a legal case in the hope it will set a precedent and help stamp out the abuse.

Speaking on Friday, the Lambourn trainer said: "It won't change anything unless we get a prosecution. There has to be a deterrent. Without a deterrent, without any checks or balances being in place, you're not going to stop it at all.

"In many ways, if we fail in this case it could have a negative effect, because of the extreme nature of the messages sent by this particular person. If we can't prosecute this level of abuse successfully then there is no chance for the less severe ones."

The incident has prompted a conversation Osborne described as "long overdue", with fellow trainers including Mark Johnston, Ed Walker and Fergal O'Brien adding their voice to calls for change. The BHA has also strongly condemned the abuse and has contacted the Osborne family.

'Enough is enough' – Saffie Osborne threat prompts strong message against abuse

The response from the racing community has come as a surprise to Osborne. He said: "By accident this case within our sport has gathered a bit of momentum, there is a real appetite to do something about it from lots of different bodies, not least the police.

"The hope is that there can be a conviction, and that acts as a deterrent for all the others who feel that it is open season to threaten jockeys. They've put up with this for too long."

Osborne added: "Saffie's lucky, she's a very strong character, and she has a good support team around her, but not all the young jockeys will have that. A message like that directed to somebody who felt slightly more vulnerable could potentially have disastrous consequences.

"I felt strongly that somebody had to make a stance against it and obviously because it was my daughter it gave me an extra bit of impetus to do that."

Osborne, who has ridden 19 winners this year in her second season racing, is determined not to let the incident affect her.

Saffie Osborne: 'jockeys get this type of thing all the time'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Speaking at Yarmouth on Friday, the 19-year-old said: "This is a far bigger problem than me getting one not very nice message. I sent it to my dad to show what I had to put up with as it's the worst I've had, and jockeys get this type of thing all the time.

"I've not let it get to me and I've certainly no plans to come off Twitter because of it. It's in the hands of the police now and I'll just get my head down and keep working away."

Her father was spurred to action when he realised this was not an isolated incident for young jockeys.

"On Wednesday evening coming back from Bath, Saffie sent that message to me. She was laughing – and I wasn't. I said this was not funny, somebody has to act on this.

"In her mind she was going to do what all the jockeys have done, which is just ignore it. For their own sanity it's probably the right thing to do, so I understand why they all just keep quiet and laugh it off, but to attempt to eradicate this sort of behaviour it's not right.

"She was totally unfazed by it, but it wasn't the same for me. At the end of the day someone was threatening to rape and murder my daughter. I only reacted how any parent would react in the same scenario."

Osborne is not the only jockey to receive disturbing messages from the person responsible, with fellow riders Jonjo O'Neill Jr, Sean Davis and Paula Muir all reporting similar experiences.

Read more on this subject:

PJA calls for bans following rise in abuse of sportswomen on social media

Paddy Brennan in plea to social media critics to recognise dangers jockeys face

Racing joins social media boycott in protest against online abuse

Young jockeys to be given guidance to handle 'sickening' social media abuse

Social media boycott 'not a one-off' if things don't improve says jockeys' chief

Join Members' Club Ultimate and read tipping from the likes of Pricewise and Paul Kealy, all the big interviews and features, daily comment and news analysis – plus our Ultimate Daily newsletter. Click here to sign up.