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Judge devastated after KC ban

Issue: 08/12/2017

A renowned multi-breed judge who has judged dogs at championship level in 25 countries, including Crufts in 2007 and 2014, has been banned for three years by the Kennel Club for 'repeated submission of discrepancies and inaccurate judging figures for first time judging appointments in a period between September 2015 and February 2017.'
Geoff Duffield was told that he had 'behaved discreditably and prejudicially to the interests of the canine world,' due to 'poor record keeping practices.' He has also been banned from acting as an officer of a registered club or society.
Mr Duffield told OUR DOGS, 'I just can't understand it. I'm devastated. I am going to appeal but I don't know how far an appeal will take me.'
The KC issued a statement about the A11 Disciplinary Case that was held on the 30th November. They write, 'The committee noted that Mr Duffield admitted the complaint and has apologised. Mr Duffield recognises and accepts this is due to his poor record-keeping practices.'
Later on they go on to say, 'The committee accepts that Mr Duffield may have made honest mistakes but there remains a duty to be accurate on the part of all judges, both to the Kennel Club and canine clubs and societies nominating judges.  
'The Judge Competency Framework, which Mr Duffield will, in due course, be able to use in respect of those breeds where he is not already qualified, will require even more stringent record keeping.'

Qualified

Mr Duffield has taken issue with their assertion within the document that reads, 'Mr Duffield accepted that he may have been passed for breeds that he was not qualified to judge due to inaccuracies.'
He said, 'I sent in questionnaires for the breeds I am qualified to judge. There was a problem with the Rottweilers as I couldn't find the catalogues. However, I got hold of copies of the catalogues and sent a revised copy to them. The Rottweiler Breed Council put me back on the A3 list.
'I never said I was qualified. I applied to be passed. I ticked the necessary boxes.'
With regard to the case against him Mr Duffield said, 'The KC refused to tell me what figures were wrong. As you know the KC operate a policy of non-transparency.
'When I asked for help they were unable to give me any because they follow a policy of non-transparency so were unwilling to release any details. I am not the fraudulent person they are making me out to be. I have lost five groups and other judging appointments because of this, that is punishment enough.
'Three years is very hard to take in and the punishment is extremely harsh. I admit that I am guilty of making clerical errors but the punishment is very harsh.'

Apologies

Mr Duffield in a statement on Facebook said, 'I offer my sincere apologies to all those clubs who have kindly offered me appointments from which I now must withdraw. I am so sorry to all those people who are disappointed in me.
'I pride myself in my honesty. We are all human. I should have been more professional in maintaining judging records but maintain that all incorrect submissions were unintentional mistakes.
'I feel devastated. I am so sorry to anyone who feels disappointed in me.'
We asked Mr Duffield if the errors were in his favour or against and he replied, 'The vast majority of errors were in my favour. I wasn't aware of the statistics until I was presented with some A4 paperwork by the K.C. Solicitor. These were given to me as the meeting started so I had no opportunity to read them.
'Clearly my records were a bit of a mish-mash and highlighted the fact that I should have been more professional in recording my judging history. Subsequent submissions to the K.C. were re-adjustments to the shows where I found the catalogues. This meant that incorrect numbers from those where I couldn't find the catalogues were duplicated, but not with any intention to defraud.
'If the K.C. didn't operate their non-transparency policy these figures they obtained could quite easily have been passed on to me so that I could correct my records. Obviously, this has now been done.'
On social media there was a lot of support for Mr Duffield. He has received over 450 responses to his post which were unsolicited. They all offered their support and Mr Duffield has also received over 100 private messages.

Hard sentence

One person posted, 'So, so very sorry to hear this Geoff. I seems to me that somebody at the KC likes to take down successful, honest, well liked and supported judges. I imagine there must be quite a few who did not always manage to keep all the records they should have. To make such a hard 'sentence' when you are always so well supported in all the breeds you judge. Your service to pedigree dogs speaks for itself. I look forward to still seeing you at the shows and wish you all the best with the appeal.'
Another poster wrote, 'Surely they can forgive a genuine mistake in an appeal? One of the nicest, fairest & most gentle of judges I know. Never had an issue with the placing of my dogs win or loose (sic). Please don't take this lying down. You have an army of exhibitors to back you up. Don't give in.'
Another held the opinion that, 'So sorry to read this post, you are the second person I have heard of that has been discriminated in less than a month, if the KC carries on with such aggression towards its Judges they will be struggling to appoint in the near future. What with ever decreasing entries, competency frameworks, and struggling societies, they are slaughtering the dog game into non existence! '
A petition has been launched saying he should not be banned - https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/842/948/499/geoff-duffield-must-not-be-banned-from-judging/.
The Kennel Club declined to comment as the case has gone to appeal.
 For OUR DOGS comment see our opinion column on page eight of this week's issue.


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