Australian jockey, Nikita McLean has received a 5 month ban from racing after assaulting her 18-year-old sister Jackie Beriman at Hamilton racecourse last weekend. McLean has won Group 1 races in Australia while Beriman is one of the country's top apprentice jockeys.
McLean accused her sister of ruining her marriage with jockey Brad McLean and the family dispute turned to physical violence when Brad McLean also turned up to ride at the Hamilton track.
From Adelaine Now:
McLean said the presence of Brad McLean, in his late 20s, at Hamilton - the first time he'd ridden on the same card as the sisters - proved too much.
She said when her estranged husband "tapped her on the bum" with his whip after a brief discussion, she became "a mess emotionally".
McLean said she lost control after Beriman later accused her of kicking her in the female jockeys' room. Stewards interviewed other female riders who backed McLean's account that she did not kick her sister.
She admitted pushing and punching her sister later in the day. "I pushed her, then I punched her, then packed my bag and left," McLean said.
This was not the first incidence of McLean being suspended for physical violence towards another jockey. She also received a ban in 2009 for striking a female apprentice jockey.
H/T Metro.co.uk
