EI Inquiry 1: Grooms Signed Docs Without Reading

Retired High Court judge Ian Callinan's Inquiry into how Equine Influenza entered Australia heard yesterday how jet-lagged grooms signed documents without reading them on arrival at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station. James Carey, a senior groom who accompanied a group of stallions from Coolmore in Ireland on August 8, said flight delays meant the trip took 40 hours & all he wanted to do was settle the horses & go to bed, noting: "I recall meeting (station manager) Greg Hankins & signing papers before being given a swipe card & gate key. After a 40 or 50-hour trip from Ireland, we had problems with the flight & I was very badly jet-lagged; at that point, the best thing you want to do at that time of night is get settled as quickly as possible." Gabriel Walsh, another Coolmore groom on the same flight, said he was too tired to read what he was signing & merely flicked through the papers. One of the stallions in that shipment was Encosta De Lago, subsequently the 1st horse diagnosed with EI on August 17. (Nov 23)