A 40-year old Canterbury man today denied three race-fixing charges through defence counsel Jonathan Eaton QC. No pleas were entered on two unrelated drugs charges.
A 50-year-old Canterbury man entered a not guilty plea to one race-fixing charge.
Three other men – aged 71, 35 and 26 – are yet to enter pleas to race-fixing allegations.
Three new race-fixing charges were laid at court this morning for a 29-year-old man who also faces an allegation of possession of MDMA tablets for supply by conspiring with another man, a 31-year-old who faces eight drugs charges and one of unlawful possession of a restricted weapon.
North Canterbury trainer Andrew Douglas Stuart, 41, today denied three race-fixing allegations, while Rolleston-based horse trainer Nigel Raymond McGrath, 44, pleaded not guilty to one charge of race-fixing.
A 49-year-old Christchurch man with interim name suppression also faces drugs charges, along with Elie Sawma, a 42-year-old from the Papanui area of Christchurch, charged with supplying the Class B controlled drug MDMA, possession of MDMA, and offering to supply the Class A drug cocaine.
Another accused, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is also yet to enter pleas.
Some of the accused were remanded by Judge Raoul Neave to a Crown case review hearing on March 25 next year, while others will be back in court on December 5. Several will be expected to enter pleas that day.
Palmerston North man Brent Stephen Wall, 47, also denies a race-fixing charge.
