A second senior lawyer has left the integrity department of racing’s ruling body in the wake of last year’s series of embarrassments related to the Jim Best case. Officials at the British Horseracing Authority say there is no connection between those travails and the departure of Hannah McLean, whose job title was “Head of Legal: Regulation”, in which role she led on prosecution and compliance matters.
However, the BHA declined to offer any on-the-record comment. Privately, an official suggested McLean has landed an excellent role elsewhere and her exit was regretted.
McLean, who joined the BHA in June 2013 as legal and compliance manager, left at the very end of 2016, three months after Adam Brickell, who had been serving as integrity director. That means the BHA lost two of the three most senior lawyers in its integrity department in the second half of last year. No replacement for McLean has yet been hired but a process is said to be under way.
McLean had previously worked for UK Anti-Doping from 2008, working her way up to acting head of case management. She confirmed by email on Friday night that she had begun a new role elsewhere but has not yet responded to a request for further information. The Law Society’s database still shows McLean as a BHA employee.
While she has not been a public figure, McLean was responsible for overseeing the troubled prosecution of Jim Best, whose licence was eventually suspended for six months in December after a second hearing in relation to charges that he had told a jockey to stop two horses.
The BHA was more forthcoming about Brickell’s departure, which the solicitor himself said was necessary in order to pursue “fresh challenges”. Nick Rust, the BHA chief executive, said at the time: “I am sorry he is leaving, but I fully understand and respect his decision.”
