Racings Black Market-Haydon Simcock

Haydon Simcock was given a 30-week custodial sentence suspended for two years and fined £290,154 on Monday for his role in the operation of the illegal bookmaker The Post.

Simcock, 40, was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court after pleading guilty in September to one charge of providing facilities for gambling without a licence and one charge of advertising unlawful gambling between May 2023 and September 2024.

The sentencing came after Simcock was exposed in February last year by an undercover Racing Post investigation, during which he claimed The Post had 1,000 customers including racehorse owners, trainers and racing managers.

These included Mark Dunphy, a former owner who lost £270,000 when the illegal bookmaker collapsed. In a witness statement read to the court, Dunphy said he subsequently suffered two heart attacks from stress and that he had “lost everything”.

Simcock, a former syndicate boss and registered racehorse owner, held the role of commercial VIP manager at The Post and was said by the prosecution to have “played a significant role in the operation and management function”, recruiting new customers who would place bets via taking screenshots of the odds available with four leading bookmakers and sending the details through via WhatsApp.

Former racehorse owner allegedly lost £270,000 following the collapse of an illegal bookmaker
'People don't want to provide bank statements. We've got so many people betting with us'
Revealed: the racehorse owner fronting an illegal bookmaker with more than 1,000 customers
Prosecutor Sam Stein KC said: “He did all of this on the basis of extracting a financial advantage for himself.”

During Monday’s hearing, it was stated that the owner of The Post was an individual known as David Lyons, although his true identity had yet to be established and the Gambling Commission had not been able to trace him since The Post’s illegal activities were revealed.

Stein said The Post accepted money “from all sources, including money from suspected criminal enterprise”, citing a message from Simcock to Lyons in which he said of a customer: “He sells watches and probably drugs.”

In a separate message, Lyons told Simcock that to deal with one customer who was complaining about not receiving payment from The Post he “could contact an old Albanian friend and [the customer] would disappear”.

Following the publication of the Racing Post article on February 25, 2024, Simcock continued to reassure customers of The Post that it had a “select number for customers only” and that it would still operate.

The court was also told about Dunphy, a former toll bridge worker-turned-professional gambler whose colours were carried by the likes of Grade 2-winning novice chaser Do Your Job.

A Grade 2-winning chaser for Mark Dunphy
Do Your Job: a Grade 2-winning chaser for Mark Dunphy
Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)
Dunphy was introduced to Simcock by a friend and subsequently became a client of The Post. After depositing a total of £240,000 between November and December 2023, Dunphy placed four bets taking the amount in his account to £280,000.

Having sought to withdraw £240,000 in January last year, Dunphy was given repeated excuses for non-payment before reporting the incident to his bank as fraud and theft.

However, following a conversation with Simcock, Dunphy agreed to withdraw his complaint in return for £10,000 and the assurance of the whole sum being returned. While he received £10,000 from Simcock personally, the rest of the amount was never repaid.

Stein said: “Dunphy said he trusted Simcock and had taken him racing at his own expense. He believed everything he said about The Post and that his health has been affected by this; stress, high blood pressure and two minor heart attacks.

“In his witness statement, he says, ‘I’ve lost everything – my lifestyle, my horses, my passion for racing horses, my friends and my girlfriend.’”

In mitigation, Simcock's barrister Emily Andrew said he had been "working under direction from Lyons" and that he had not recruited any new customers to The Post following the Racing Post's article. Simcock has also "removed himself from all involvement in horseracing and gambling".

Andrew added: "He wishes to express his remorse from Mr Dunphy’s losses. He paid him £10,000 of his own money and never received any repayment from Lyons."

In sentencing Simcock, the chair said: "You have shown a complete disregard for the law here and had a major impact on others. You have caused stress to other people and they have had health issues because of this. You have narrowly avoided serving custody."

Alongside his suspended sentence, Simcock is required to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation days and pay £290,154 in restitution to Dunphy, costs and a victim surcharge. The court set out that Simcock pay £300 a month – the maximum he said he could afford to pay – until such time as it could be increased.

Simcock declined to comment when approached by the Racing Post outside the court after the hearing.

John Pierce, Gambling Commission director of enforcement, said: “This case illustrates all the risks that consumers face from illegal gambling – links to crime, having no regard for social responsibility, repeatedly exploiting consumers and operating without any of the necessary operational safeguards in place.

“This investigation shows our determination to take action against illegal operators and protect consumers from harm. Using mobile apps like WhatsApp does not make illegal gambling invisible or beyond our reach – we can evidence such activity is taking place and we will use every power available to us to play our part in removing this unlawful activity from the British marketplace and to ensure those responsible are held to account for their actions.”