Pigeon fancier embroiled in cheating row after sport's 'Grand National'

Disgraced fancier: Eamon Kelly quit racing after admitting he cheated in "Grand National" for birds
Jon Lewis/Oxford Mail
Fiona Simpson29 July 2016

A top UK pigeon racer caused the “biggest scandal” ever to hit the sport when he cheated to win last weekend’s “Grand National” for the birds.

Eamon Kelly, 52, was the reigning champion of the Tarbes National, but things turned nasty as he bid to keep his coveted crown.

Race organisers quickly grew suspicious about the speedy winning time he claimed for his "triumphant" bird — which never actually left his loft in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

Kelly admitted cheating and ended his career in disgrace.

A source told the Sun: "It's the biggest scandal ever to hit pigeon racing."

The shamed pigeon racer apologised for his big race scam earlier this week, but still faces a possible life ban from the sport.

Kelly was already reigning champion of the annual event, in which the winner is the bird that records the fastest average speed while flying home from Tarbes in the South of France.

But to make sure he retained his prized crown, he registered 14 birds for the race and kept them in his loft while sending another set out to France on a lorry with 2,200 other pigeons.

As the doppelgangers flew across the Channel, he calculated what he thought was a reasonable winning time, snatched a bird from his loft and registered its "return" using a microchipped tag on its body.

However, the "winning time" meant his pigeon had flown the 580-mile journey at 40mph. But others in the field doing 39mph were still nowhere near home.

The con saw him pick-up £1,500 in prize money and a £10,000 Ford Fiesta.

Mr Kelly “sincerely” apologised to the National Flying Club over his “stupid actions”.

A statement said: "I, Eamon Kelly, sincerely apologise to all my friends and fanciers over my stupid actions relating to the recent Tarbes race.

"I was tempted and fell, a decision I will regret for the rest of my life. A sport that I love so much, that has given me untold pleasure and above all friendship I have thrown all away."

Kelly will face a disciplinary hearing next week which may see him banned for life.

National Flying Club chairman Phil Curtis told The Sun: "This is a very disappointing episode for the sport."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT