Members of a Chinese betting syndicate are facing up to 15 years in jail after an investigation exposed race fixing on the horse racing machine on Brighton Pier.
The men who cannot be named for legal reasons were exposed after a lengthy police investigation. Whilst under surveillance for over a year it was discovered that one of the men would occupy a seat at the horse racing game and place a strong magnet at the end of the machine to ensure horse three (the yellow one) would always win. The three other men would then bet all of their two pence pieces on horse three.
A spokesman for the British Pier Horse Racing Association said ‘What they were doing was tricking ordinary hard working punters out of their hard earned two pence pieces. We are working hard to rid the industry of this evil and this is a great result for us.’
Over the course of a year the men are thought to have pocketed over £40 in winnings. The case will resume at Lewes Crown Court next week.
The Brighton Bulletin 