Jamie Kah on why she didn’t mention Mark Zahra was at illegal Airbnb party
Details of Jamie Kah’s interviews with stewards over an illegal Airbnb gathering have been exposed in a seven-page Victorian Racing Tribunal decision.
National
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Jamie Kah told stewards she did not tell them Mark Zahra attended a lockdown breaking barbecue because he was only there “briefly” for a “few beers”.
The 25-year-old will find out the penalty at 9am on Friday after she was found guilty of misleading stewards over Zahra’s attendance at the party on August 25.
Details of Kah’s interviews with stewards have been exposed in a seven-page Victorian Racing Tribunal decision.
Kah did not reveal Zahra was at the Tallis Drive property when originally quizzed by stewards who found out about the party following a noise complaint to police.
The Scobie Breasley award winner was asked who ended up being at the property, but she only revealed jockeys Celine Gaudray, Ethan Brown and Ben Melham were there.
When asked again about Zahra at a later interview, Kah gave a lengthy explanation.
“Well, look, you never actually asked me if Mark was there and I – from your question, when you said, ‘Who ended up being there?’,” she said.
“I just thought you meant who ended up there, meaning, you know, there was the cops that came, it was late into the night and they were the people that were there.
“They were the reason that the cops came, why there was the noise complaint.”
Kah said that she did not expose Zahra because he had only “popped in” for a “few beers”.
“If you’d asked me if Mark Zahra had popped in at all or was there earlier in the night, I wouldn’t have any reason not to tell you that. I just – as you asked who “ended up” being there, I just replied with who was there and who – who was there into the late night and who was there into the morning and, like I said, the reason why the cops came,” she told stewards.
The published decision stated that “explanation is far from convincing.”
Kah also said she did not know how long Zahra was there, which was another reason she had not disclosed his attendance.
“I think he came and had a few beers and there was a barbecue and I saw him briefly. But like I said, I didn’t see him leave or get there but he wasn’t there for long,” she said.
“Look, I’ve been very upfront with you today and, look, honestly, if you’d asked me if Mark was – you know, if he was there at any time early in the night, I would have said that, but I just thought you asked who ended up there, meaning the incident and the reason the police came.”
The party started with a text message from Kah to Gaudray, but spiralled into a larger gathering which broke Covid-19 visiting rules and curfew.
“I did message Celine. We’re quite good friends and I just thought I need someone to talk to at the moment and I wasn’t really planning on her staying but I just asked her to come over and the rest of them came over too,” she told stewards.
Kah was already banned for three months over the lockdown breach, which was estimated to have cost her up to $1 million in lost wages.
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