Belgium, HYNYH

thelmanelle · Belgium, HYNYH

Court Case. Article of Interest. Three Belgian Racehorses stolen two years ago...

Belgium, Derbyshire:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/u...national-horse-rustling-gang.html

Thanks.

thelmanelle

Update on the Belgium case:

NetPosse.com World News Brief Belgian: Glamorous blonde showjumper a
Posted by: "idahonc@aol.com" idahonc@aol.com idahonc
Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:29 am (PST)

I am often asked by people, "Who steals horses?" My answer is, "Anyone and
everyone. It may not be who you would think all the time." The following
articles gives a fine example of people we would not expect to be involved
with disappearing horses. Have fun reading and remember, "You can't always
tell a book by its cover." - Debi Metcalfe, Stolen Horse International

NetPosse.com World News Brief: The showjumper and the £170,000 riddle of
the five vanishing horses

By _Emily Andrews_
(http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/home/ search.html? s=y&authornamef= Emily+Andrews)
Last updated at 9:27 AM on 14th January 2011
It sounds like the plot of a rather overexcited Dick Francis novel. Under
cover of night, five horses worth £170,000 are stolen from a Belgian stable
and shipped to England. A glamorous blonde showjumper is accused of their
removal and an international warrant issued for her arrest. This
extraordinary story, however, was outlined yesterday by a lawyer at the High Court –
who claimed it was for real.

Denial: Laura Newman returned one of the horses
Laura Newman, who has competed against Zara Phillips and hopes to be
selected for the 2012 British Olympic equestrian team, was initially accused of
the ‘wrongful removal’ of the horses.
But after Miss Newman, who denied the allegations, returned one of the
horses to stable owner Joelle Triplot, the civil claim against her was dropped.
The extradition proceedings against 31-year-old Miss Newman, who has been
riding competitively since she was six, have also ‘fizzled out’.
That leaves 69-year-old Joan Whetter, whose Derbyshire stable currently
contains the three horses – Liago, Mouche, and Caretanne – that Mrs Triplot
wants back.
Miss Whetter is representing herself at the High Court.
The court heard that Mrs Triplot called Belgian police at 8.30am on
December 28, 2008, after finding five of her prize horses had gone missing
overnight.
The wealthy Belgian had bought them for her 25-year-old son Jonathan, a
former member of the Belgium junior national showjumping team.
They were Mouche, a bay mare worth £50,000; Polo, a dark bay gelding worth
£30,000; Atleht, a chestnut gelding worth £20,000; Liago, a grey gelding
worth £50,000; and Caretanne.
She had previously claimed Miss Newman and Miss Whetter had stolen them in
a pre-dawn raid at her stables near Liege.

Miss Newman (pictured), who has competed against Zara Phillips and hopes
to be selected for the 2012 British Olympic equestrian team, was initially
accused of the 'wrongful removal' of the horses
These allegations were denied by Miss Newman and Miss Whetter and no-one
has ever stood trial for the alleged theft.
Now, Mrs Triplot has gone to the High Court to get three of the horses back
– after Miss Newman returned Atleht to her, and another woman, eventing
rider Erica Oldham, returned Polo.

Claim: Joelle Triplot says five of her horses were stolen
Mrs Triplot’s barrister, Jonathan Bellamy, said: ‘We say that the horses
were taken without consent, that they were stolen, and that anyone
subsequently dealing with the horses could not pass good title.
‘The horses were removed without the knowledge of the claimant and they
went missing overnight.’
Mr Bellamy urged the judge to direct the return of the horses and a number
of horse boxes that were also stolen.
He added the horses had now been away from their rightful owners for more
than two years.
All had been trained to a ‘high standard’ before they were taken, he
added, but the ‘bond’ between rider and horse had now been broken by their
removal.
Miss Whetter accepted that evidence in the form of electronic microchips
embedded in the animals confirms that ‘they are the horses’.
But she disputed that the ‘theft as described took place’, telling the
court that they were acquired in good faith.
The High Court hearing, which started on Wednesday and is listed for four
days, continues.
Read more:
_http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/news/ article-1346932/ The-showjumper- 170-000-riddle- vanishing- horses.html# ixzz1BCwFZTtp_
(http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/news/ article-1346932/ The-showjumper- 170-000-riddle- vanishing- horses.html#
ixzz1BCwFZTtp)

doubletop · The Truth about the Belgian horses alleged to be stolen

the horses were brought to England and sold on by a Belgian dealer,Guy Jacobs.He was a very close personal friend of Joelle Triplot for many years.He had a criminal record in connection with horses which Joelle Triplot was fully aware of.In spite of this,she encouraged and assisted him by allowing him to operate from her premises,where he continued to perbutate crimes.Unfortunatley,nobody in England knew about his criminal record.Joelle Triplot and Guy Jacobs were in touch during the period he spent in England from Aug 2008 to Feb 2009.In fact he travelled to and fro between England and Belgium during this period,operating from both yards.He sold approximately 40 horses in that time.It has been established that some of the horses alleged to be stolen on 28th Dec 2008 were actually in England before Nov 2008.It has been acknowledged that Guy Jacobs sold the horses to unsuspecting people but he has not been charged with stealing them.This is after 2 years of investigating the alleged theft.It looks like there was no theft after all !

doubletop · Some interesting facts about the Belgian horses

None of the "prize winning" valuable Show Jumpers had ever won or been even placed in any competition ! this is a matter of record.The alleged "owners" could not give any details of any records of success to support the values alleged.In fact 3 of the horses were professionally valued by two independant valuers during the course of the court case which still continues.
Pouche La Mouche,(who is actually 20 years old and alledged to be 11years old) Caretanne ( who is actually 7 years old and alledged to be 11 years old) and Liago (who is 8 years old with evidence of previous lameness) were valued collectively at under £10,000.If this claim was persued at all,after being dismissed by the Belgian Magistrate and in the High Court in England in Oct 2009,should not have been in the High Court and should have been allocated to the County Court but for the false value of the claim.It is a concern that a victim of fraud cannot get out of the case without paying them to go away.

thelmanelle

Thanks. SHI reports what it gets. There is always a chance that there is a rebuttal. In civil matters, one has to provide the information. The court has to decide the outcome of the case.

Thank you for showing that there is always two sides. We get this a lot in our SHI cases. You stated it very well.

Belgium, HYNYH

The Truth about the Belgian horses alleged to be stolen

Some interesting facts about the Belgian horses