Robbie Dunne has had his 18-month suspension for bullying and harassing fellow jockey Bryony Frost reduced to 10 months on appeal.

Dunne had initially been found in breach of four charges of rule J19 which covers conduct prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of racing, for a series of incidents between February 13, 2020 and September 3, 2020.

However, despite agreeing that Dunne had been guilty of breaching rule J19, Appeal Board chair Anthony Boswood QC felt one breach of the rule, rather than the previous four, covered all the offences.

As his suspension began on December 10, 2021 it will end on October 9, 2022.

In summing up Boswood said: "We wish to make it clear we think Mr Dunne's behaviour was thoroughly reprehensible and any jockey behaving like that in future must accept serious punishment.

"We think the (original) sentence was, however, very severe, as it represented the minimum entry point six times higher than that for rule J20, which was also charged. We think it was severe given the number of rides Mr Dunne will have lost to date and will lose in the future and this late stage of his career.

"We also think that maybe the disciplinary panel gave insufficient credit for items of mitigation such as his attempted apology after the Stratford race - which Bryony Frost refused to accept, which she was fully entitled to do, and the refusal to take part in the 'banging of heads' proposed by Richard Johnson and her father Jimmy Frost at Kempton. Again she didn't want to participate, a position she was fully entitled to take - but Mr Dunne was prepared to take part.

"So we have decided to reduce the suspension to 10 months."

The BHA issued a statement which read: “The independent Appeal Board has today upheld the decision of the independent Disciplinary Panel that Robbie Dunne is in breach of Rule (J)19 in that his conduct was prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing in Great Britain. We acknowledge their decision to amend the penalty he will serve and await the full reasons in relation to that aspect.

“This reduction in penalty in no way diminishes the recognition of the severity of the allegations that were brought against Mr Dunne. Indeed, it continues to send a clear message that conduct of this nature cannot be tolerated in any working environment within our sport.

“Following the original decision last year, the BHA released a statement which outlines our commitment to improving workplace standards, conduct and wellbeing. Work is continuing with industry colleagues to finalise the industry code of conduct, with a view to it going before the BHA Board in the first half of the year. A cross-industry working party has also been formed to look at ways of improving education and awareness around the standards of conducted expected across the sport.

“Once again, we recognise that this has been a challenging period for all involved in this complex and emotive case, and we ask that the privacy and wellbeing of both parties is respected as they continue to receive the support of the appropriate bodies and those close to them.

“We now await the Appeal Board’s written reasons before we can comment on any of the technicalities around their findings or any other matters associated with the hearing.”