Bloodstock pair jailed

Two men were jailed earlier this month for conspiracy to defraud shareholders in a UK bloodstock company following a Department of Trade and Industry investigation. During their eight-week trial, Basildon Crown Court heard how Ron Dawson, a racing tipster, and Andrew Irish, an accountant, had set up two companies, Classic Bloodstock and Classic Bloodstock II, to train racehorses and race them. The charges were all associated with the operations of Classic Bloodstock II which the prosecution described as a “vehicle for dishonesty”. Classic Bloodstock is now under the control of new directors and still trades.