Hazel Boyd (Image: Wales Online)
A stable hand who sought £436,000 in damages after falling off a horse and injuring her arm has had her claim rejected by a judge, who found that she had lied about the extent of her injury.
Hazel Boyd, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, had claimed that the fall from the three year old thoroughbred, Foxy, in June 2020 had left her with a broken and dislocated right elbow, ruining her riding career.
She sued her former employer, racehorse trainer Debbie Hughes, under the Animals Act 1971, alleging that the horse was “dangerous” due to its tendency to “take fright”. Boyd claimed £368,000 in lost earnings, in addition to other damages, despite having since started a “doggy daycare” business.
However, her claim was undermined when private investigators secretly filmed her engaging in physical activities such as playing rugby and football, and walking muscular dogs with her supposedly injured arm. Hughes accused Boyd of “fundamental dishonesty”, describing her as a “rugby-playing, football-playing goalkeeper, who is quite able”.
As a result, Boyd was awarded nothing in her High Court case. Ms Boyd, formerly a scrum half for Llantwit Fadre Pink Rhinos women’s rugby team, initially testified in court that she could no longer play rugby.
Hazel Boyd during her time with Llantwit Fadre Pink Rhinos women’s rugby team (Image: Wales Online)
However, after discovering footage of her participating in rugby training, she clarified that she had never intended to claim she hadn’t handled a rugby ball since the incident. “I was not trying to be clever or hide anything,” she explained, reports
“I did do some training which included some touch-rugby – strictly no tackling, rucks and mauls – but have not played normal rugby.”
Ms Hughes’ barrister, Georgina Crawford, presented videos showing Ms Boyd engaging in various activities such as walking dogs and attending football and rugby training sessions. The lawyer highlighted one particular clip where Ms Boyd was seen walking three dogs, including a “big, strong” husky that pulled on the lead in her right hand.
Ms Boyd responded that the husky’s tugging did not exert enough force to strain her arm. Judge Mr Justice Cotter acknowledged the injury was “very nasty” but concluded that Ms Boyd was dishonest in claiming she could no longer perform everyday tasks with her right hand, such as brushing her teeth, combing her hair, eating, cooking, changing bed linen, gardening, walking a dog, or throwing darts.
Judge Cotter determined that Ms Boyd had overstated her disability due to fear of it being “underestimated”. He considered factors such as her job loss, reliance on painkillers, reduced social activities, careful budgeting due to universal credit, and an uncertain future.
If the judge had deemed Ms Boyd “fundamentally dishonest”, she could have been required to pay her former employer’s legal fees. However, he concluded that while there was “dishonest exaggeration”, it did not equate to fundamental dishonesty.
Judge Cotter acknowledged that Ms Boyd could no longer work as a stable hand or play contact rugby. He noted: “She voluntarily declared that she tried to retrain as an HGV driver and also returned to playing football and was setting up a dog walking business before she was aware of the surveillance, so has been fully open about running a business that necessarily involves walking dogs and sometimes keeping them on leads.”
Judge Cotter remarked that Ms Boyd “should consider herself fortunate that her conscious exaggeration has not had devastating consequences”. Additionally, he decided in favour against her concerning liability.
The horse’s disposition was a significant discussion point, with Ms Crawford arguing the animal wasn’t more prone to “spook” than a typical three year old racehorse. Ultimately, the judge concluded that Ms Boyd hadn’t successfully demonstrated the horse to be unusually skittish or jumpy compared to its equine peers.