This is what Patrick Collins wrote about in the Sunday Mail about Lester Piggott two weeks ago. I print this after SBC praised Mr Cameron for being a racing fan and awarding an honour of Knighthood to the now know Sir Henry Cecil...
The first peice was written two sundays ago only to be followed up the next week by the other article...
Lester Piggott was 76 years old on Saturday. A rider of incomparable distinction, he is the winner of 30 English classics, including nine Derbies, and was champion jockey on 11 occasions.
His peers revere him to such a degree that the awards which the jockeys bestow at the end of the season are officially termed âLestersâ.
Revered: Lester Piggott
And yet, behind all this acclaim, there lurks a sadness. In 1987, Piggott was sentenced to three yearsâ imprisonment for tax offences.
He served 366 days but in 1988 he was stripped of the OBE which he had been awarded 13 years
earlier. Those who are closest to him testify that the day he parcelled up the medal and ribbon and sent it back to the Palace was the saddest of his life.
Now this is not a vengeful nation. We allow âSirâ Fred Goodwin, who helped bring RBS to their knees, to retain both his title and his gargantuan pension, despite his assiduous attempts to wreck our banking industry.
Worse, we watch with an indulgent beam while the preposterous âLordâ Jeffrey Archer, sent down for four years for perjury, resumes his seat in the Upper House and shamelessly passes laws for the rest of us to obey.
Yet Piggott is different. Lester, it seems, must permanently be denied the bauble which he prized so dearly and mourns so bitterly. It is high time that decent justice found its voice.
----------------------------------------------------------
A week ago in this space, I noted that Lester Piggott was celebrating his 76th birthday.
I suggested that the occasion should be marked by the restoration of his OBE, which was taken from him more than 20 years ago, following his conviction for tax offences. A remarkable number of people sent in emails and letters.
Almost unanimously, they strongly disagreed with the view that Lester
should have his OBE restored. Instead, they thought he ought to be
knighted. And they have a point.
It would be interesting to see how far this 'campaign' could get to... After all the racing community got AP his BBC Sportsman of the Year Award...
The first peice was written two sundays ago only to be followed up the next week by the other article...
Lester Piggott was 76 years old on Saturday. A rider of incomparable distinction, he is the winner of 30 English classics, including nine Derbies, and was champion jockey on 11 occasions.
His peers revere him to such a degree that the awards which the jockeys bestow at the end of the season are officially termed âLestersâ.
Revered: Lester Piggott
And yet, behind all this acclaim, there lurks a sadness. In 1987, Piggott was sentenced to three yearsâ imprisonment for tax offences.
He served 366 days but in 1988 he was stripped of the OBE which he had been awarded 13 years
earlier. Those who are closest to him testify that the day he parcelled up the medal and ribbon and sent it back to the Palace was the saddest of his life.
Now this is not a vengeful nation. We allow âSirâ Fred Goodwin, who helped bring RBS to their knees, to retain both his title and his gargantuan pension, despite his assiduous attempts to wreck our banking industry.
Worse, we watch with an indulgent beam while the preposterous âLordâ Jeffrey Archer, sent down for four years for perjury, resumes his seat in the Upper House and shamelessly passes laws for the rest of us to obey.
Yet Piggott is different. Lester, it seems, must permanently be denied the bauble which he prized so dearly and mourns so bitterly. It is high time that decent justice found its voice.
----------------------------------------------------------
A week ago in this space, I noted that Lester Piggott was celebrating his 76th birthday.
I suggested that the occasion should be marked by the restoration of his OBE, which was taken from him more than 20 years ago, following his conviction for tax offences. A remarkable number of people sent in emails and letters.
Almost unanimously, they strongly disagreed with the view that Lester
should have his OBE restored. Instead, they thought he ought to be
knighted. And they have a point.
It would be interesting to see how far this 'campaign' could get to... After all the racing community got AP his BBC Sportsman of the Year Award...
