Oisin Murphy: Champion jockey reflects on ‘nightmare’ drink-driving conviction and car crash | Racing News

Oisin Murphy described his car accident and his subsequent conviction for driving in drink as “a nightmare for all those involved”.

The four-time champion Jockey was sentenced to a fine of £ 70,000 and prohibited from driving for 20 months after pleading guilty to a driving manager of a motor vehicle when he was beyond the alcohol limit prescribed after the accident in April.

Following the conclusion of these legal proceedings, the British Horseracing Authority announced the immediate taxation of an “extremely strict set of conditions and surveillance requirements” on the driving license of Murphy which “must be respected at any time”, although the exact details remain confidential.

Speaking in Windsor on Monday evening, Murphy told Sky Sports Racing: “It is very important not to redo this error, it was a nightmare in particular for all the people involved, not only myself, for everyone and the people who had to pick up the parts, my support network. Time is a big healer, but I will not forget this error.

“They (the BHA) never disclose license information, I am not the first jockey to drink and drive or commit offenses, it is obviously more high level because it is me. Due to the profile I have, these incidents should never happen, but the BHAs were fantastic to work and I really appreciate what they did to help me and I want to reimburse them.”

Murphy said the passenger who was involved in the accident “is really good, it is the most important thing” and spoke of the advice he had received before and after the accident.

He added: “I have been (in Counseling) for four years and I obviously had very good spells because of this support network and I have been very much on this since the end of April and before, but certainly since the end of April and I have to thank these people because they went beyond and beyond the moment when the process was not very easy.”

However, Murphy criticized the cover that his case had received, saying: “There was a lot of things in the media and it is important not to allow the media to intimidate you too much because you can go down very low, but I had horses to roll and a work to do.

“It’s great to ride every day and I hope at the same level that I was able to do in Royal Ascot and in the weeks before.”

He added: “Everyone does not want to realize, there is a lot of jealousy there, especially in the media, but I worked all my life to ride good horses and I will continue to do it. The only thing that can prevent me from progressing more in my career is myself, so it’s a realization.”