Greyhound trainer Greg Paull caught up in live-baiting scandal spent years clearing his name

A QUEENSLAND greyhound trainer caught up in the live-baiting scandal and banned for life has spent years fighting authorities, determined to clear his name. This is how he took on The Establishment and won.

THIS is a story about a battler who took on The Establishment and won.

When the live-baiting scandal rocked the greyhound industry in February, 2015, Greg Paull was a greyhound owner, trainer and breeder who had tasted success.

Together with his partner Kirsty they had bred and reared Group dogs, city winners and a track record holder. He loved his greyhounds and the couple’s lives and friendships revolved around them.

That was until he was charged by Racing Queensland with live baiting, an offence that was subsequently overturned by the courts in July.

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“They took away my passion, the way I make a living, my job, my life” Mr Paull said.

Greg Paull was banned for life but took the accusations to court and had rulings overturned.

What they didn’t factor in was Mr Paull’s fierce determination, developed since his days representing his country in the military.

So, when he was banned for life for his alleged involvement in live baiting, he was hellbent on clearing his name.

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In evidence presented to the Queensland Racing Disciplinary Board, Mr Paull admitted that he had attended Tom Noble’s Churchable property with the intent of trialling one or more greyhounds, accepting that “at no point did he have any idea that the establishment was unregistered with Racing Queensland’’.

Disgraced greyhound trainer Tom Noble avoided jail time. Photo: Jodie Richter

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On the day of the alleged offence, August 20, 2014, Mr Paull said he’d had no intention of being involved in live baiting. He said he trialled his dogs and then left the track. He accepted that the video presented as evidence by Racing Queensland showed a small animal as part of the makeup of the lure.

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The Racing Disciplinary Board rejected the evidence provided by Mr Paull that the animal was in fact a carcass and sided with Racing Queensland, saying the animal was “very much alive”.

Mr Paull told the board of the shame that he felt being tainted with the suspicion of being a live baiter, saying that it had brought him and his family significant heartache.

Years on, at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), that decision would be overturned. The Disciplinary Board reduced Mr Paull’s disqualification from life to 10 years, saying the original penalty was too harsh.

Disgraced trainer Tom Noble with his dogs Jack Swagger and 5 to 5. Pic Tom Lee

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Failing to clear his name, he remained angry and disappointed.

“It feels like they’ve made (several of) us scapegoats in this whole affair,” Mr Paull said. “It seems like the Queensland Racing Control Board felt the need to justify their own existence.’’

Mr Paull was not content with the sentence reduction. Like a number of other trainers disqualified for life for their alleged offences, he sought judicial redress at QCAT.

Mr Paull argued that videotape evidence relied on by Racing Queensland, was illegally obtained by Animals Liberation Queensland and in turn then used illegally by the ABC in producing their Four Corners program that triggered the live-baiting scandal. He hired lawyers.

“I wanted to prove it myself but everyone else told me it was too important to mess it up and to get a professional,” he said.

Trainer Tom Noble was one of the key figures in the live baiting scandal. Photo: ABC Four Corners

That didn’t end well, with QCAT dismissing the argument that members of ALQ trespassed on private property while obtaining video footage, ruling that no one was in violation of the Qld Invasion of Privacy Act 1971.

“I always thought that breaking the law meant that you had done something illegal, (but) not so in this case because it seems that if you are an animal activist or work for the ABC you’re above the law,’’ he said.

By this time, Mr Paull had had enough. In scenes reminiscent of the popular movie The Castle, where the battling Kerrigan family goes to the High Court to stop their home being resumed, he too decided to take on the authorities. Thus began the arduous task of endless days and nights learning the law.

“People said I was crazy to fight the law without legal representation and I probably was, but I knew no one would fight as hard for me as I would for myself” he said.

He appealed the QCAT Interlocutory decision which was heard by Justice Tim Carmody. He was up against the might of the handsomely resourced state’s Queensland Racing Integrity Commission which hired top law firm Clayton Utz as well as a QC.

Against the odds, Mr Paull won.

In his ruling Justice Carmody said: “In my opinion, the contrary inference is not reasonably open. Racing Queensland is unable to establish as a fact that the (audio) tapes do not record a private conversation. It follows that the review tribunal misapplied the law to the facts by not finding that Racing Queensland had failed to meet the mandatory admissibility threshold of satisfactorily demonstrating that the tapes do not record a “private conversation”, and the use of a listening device to record the private conversation.

While it had taken two years at QCAT to achieve this result, his name had still not been cleared. In February this year, Mr Paull went back to QCAT to have the Queensland Racing Disciplinary Board decision set aside. He went armed with the appeal result from Justice Carmody, documentation and a DVD from a Brisbane video expert. They argued that there was no verification of video authenticity.

Greyhound Racing at Albion Park. Picture: Marc Robertson/File

This resulted in Member Ann Fitzpatrick, in July, ruling that the decision of the Racing Disciplinary Board and the penalty be set aside, and that breaches of the greyhound rules were not established. This meant Mr Paull was free to go back to training greyhounds and attending race meetings.

He had done the impossible and won.

In her decision, Member Fitzpatrick said she was unable to find that at least one of his greyhounds trained with a live animal on the lure arm.

She went on to say that “it was fundamental to the respondent’s allegations against Mr Paull” that the small animal “is proved to be alive when Mr Paull was trialling his dogs.

Screen captures from the Four Corners special investigation into live Greyhound baiting 'Making a Killing'. Mr Paull successfully argued it was a carcass on the lure arm when his dogs trained. Source: ABC

“I do not think one second of apparent movement on a moving lure is sufficient proof that the animal was alive,’’ she said.

“In the end, I cannot find with the requisite degree of certainty that the animal was alive at the point in time marked by QRIC on the video evidence.’’

In the hearing, Mr Paull said his own observation was that the animal looked like a carcass. “I accept that evidence” Member Fitzpatrick said.

Reflecting on the years it’s taken to achieve that decision, Mr Paull said: “It’s been a living hell.

“Our involvement in the greyhound industry is all gone. Our breeding stock that took years to acquire and refine has been dispersed. I’ve lost friends, in and out of the racing industry, I’ve lost my reputation for honesty and integrity, my career and livelihood were ruined. I feel bitter and angry, and for what? All because the governing body of the greyhound industry couldn’t do their job properly.

“We’ve had to endure a fair bit of flak from all this over the last few years. Once, we were even harassed by the police who turned up in the middle of the night and questioned us on our involvement in the greyhounds. That was weird.”

“It’s taken a lot out of me. I feel drained. It’s got to the point where I very rarely leave the house now and if I do, my stomach churns and gets tied up in knots. I could just imagine what I’d be like going to the races again. I suppose it’s just the stress and anxiety of it all.

“The judicial redress at QCAT wasn’t just about getting back into the dogs but about clearing my name so I can hold my head up high again.”

Would he ever get involved in the greyhound industry again?

“You can never say never. It gets in your blood, you know, the thrill of racing. It never leaves you, so I suppose, maybe one day.”