Background
I am probably best known for three things:
- Being an autistic former WSCC racing driver and Team owner back in the 1980’s…
- Being sent to prison in 1994 after major legal wrangles with my insurers following a horse riding accident (see below), and…
- Being the author of two books, Chequered Justice & Dark Horse.
Bibliography:
- Chequered Justice ISBN 978-1-84624-524-4
- Chequered Justice (Audiobook) ISBN 978-0-9569104-9-3
- Dark Horse ISBN 978-0-9569104-2-4
Racing Career:
I started racing FF1600 cars (Lotus 61) in 1979 before moving into Group C Sports Car Racing. It took a couple of years before beginning to establish my career as a sports car driver in the British Thundersports series and the BRDC Sportscar Championship. In 1984 I became a World Sportscar Championship driver, competing in Group C prototypes and to a lesser extent in the American IMSA Camel Lights (driving Spice SE87L & SE88P). In 1984 I established my own WSCC Team (Grand Prix Racing Promotions), competing around the world, including the Le Mans 24 Hour in 1984, 85, 86 and 87.
I am British, born 19 January 1955 in Hove, East Sussex, England. I retired in 1993 after fourteen years, racing predominantly with:
Teams:
- Goodmans Racing Team
- Roy Baker Racing
- Grand Prix Racing Promotions
- Team Bardon
- Gunner Porsche Racing
- Star Union Racing
- R & D Motorsport
Cars:
Best Results: 3 wins, 2 second places, 7 poles, 4 fastest laps, 5 lap records.
Best Finish: Winning Class A and securing fastest lap at the Esso Willhire 24 Hour in 1991, and 1st place at the Lime Rock Independence Day Trophy (IMSA GTP class) on 4th July 1991.
After major legal wrangles with my insurers (see below), I retired from motorsport in 1993. My first novel, based on my experience within the British legal system, was published in 2010.
Legal Problems:
In January 1993, BBC Watchdog broadcast an exposé on the Payment Protection Insurance industry (PPI)[45], featuring my insurers[46] who had initially rejected my PPI claim. When they became aware I was one of the whistleblowers behind the Watchdog exposé they placed me under surveillance, one investigator wrongly reporting that I had been observed riding horses from my home when supposedly injured. Subsequently, my insurers admitted their investigator had been watching the wrong people!
Despite the mistake, the PPI company still reported me to the Metropolitan Police and days later they raided our home, charging me with fraud[EVRO – ISBN 978-1-910505-70-0 P. 55], the PPI company alleging that my claims were still fraudulent because I was also claiming on an accident policy following a horse riding accident. Later, they also acknowledged that I had been eligible to claim simultaneously on both my accident/redundancy policies[EVRO – ISBN 978-1-910505-70-0 P. 53].
Shortly before the trial was due to commence our home was raided again, additional charges being added after the police discovered I had been involved in a Prize Indemnity race at Brands Hatch at the time I was injured.
At the start of this now very complex Trial for any jury to comprehend, my Barrister (Mr Jonathan Davies), was then himself injured and unable to represent me in Court for some weeks, the Trial Judge (Judge macRae) however allowing the Trial to continue in my Barristers absence.
It was later revealed that my Barrister (Mr Jonathan Davies) was Judge MacRae’s former pupil.
In another case, The Standard, revealed how the Metropolitan Police would go ‘judge-shopping’ for Judge Kenneth MacRae in difficult cases…
Judge MaCrae Trial Summing-up (1994):
After 2 days of often confusing and misleading summing-up, the Jury were instructed by Judge MacRae to consider just two primary factors:
1). Judge MacRae in a classic example of judicial gaslighting, informed the Jury my injuries were caused by a gardening accident in 1991 (leading to erroneous and inaccurate media reports that I only had a simple “back strain” but had claimed to be totally disabled from racing). Judge MacRae choosing to disregard my 1988 riding accident and the diagnosed “permanent spinal damage” by the Insurance Companies own medical expert and Spinal Surgeon!
[52][53] [54]
2). Judge MacRae informed the Jury that I had contrived to deliberately bring down my own Company, Grand Prix Racing Promotions, to establish a new Team, Star Union, using Prize indemnity insurance with my former co-driver.
[55][56][57].
The Jury were told that I had fraudulently obtained money from my insurance companies by using those two primary factors and had embarked on a “web of deception and falsehoods”. Judge MacRae choosing to completely ignore significant evidence to the contrary.
After the 7 week trial, without representation from my barrister (Jonathan Davies) for a significant time, I was found guilty, collapsed in the Dock and spent 6 weeks in Graylingwell Hospital after which Judge MacRae insisted that although I was still a hospital inpatient, I be returned immediately for sentencing.
I was sentenced to four years in prison and transferred directly to high security HMP Wandsworth[58][59].
As a result of my 6 weeks hospitalisation in Graylingwell Hospital, I was then refused the right to appeal on grounds he had missed the critical 28 day Appeal Lodge deadline[60].
Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC):
The CCRC took almost three years to publish its Report on my 1994 Trial and conviction. The Report was finally published in November 2022.
Out of the ‘two primary factors’ that Judge MacRae specifically instructed the Jury to consider (above), the CCRC refused to investigate ‘Point 2’.
Out of the remaining 50% (primarily relating to accident in 1988 and injury claims) the CCRC accepted the following…
• …criticism from a senior Spinal Surgeon that Judge MacRae had curtailed his important medical evidence from being heard by the Jury (CCRC Point 240).
[61][62][63][64]65][66][67][68][69][70]
• ….agreeing that new MRI scans detailing multiple spinal fractures with two broken vertebrae, one vertebra having being knocked forward in my lower spine by a quarter of an inch, flattening and severely narrowing the exiting nerves to his right leg, causing a Spondylolisthesis at level L5 S1. These scans proved the injuries were caused by a traumatic impact (CCRC Point 239), consistent with my 1988 horse riding accident and evidence the Spinal Surgeon had attempted to tell the Jury.
• …accepting I would not have known that my injuries were permanent when I commenced my claims (CCRC Point 238).
• …accepting new expert evidence from three independent Chartered Psychologists each confirming that in addition to dyslexia, I also had previously undiagnosed lifelong conditions of High Functioning Autism (ASD) and ADHD, conditions the Jury would not have been aware of in 1994 and which may have adversely influenced them when Bartlett was giving his evidence.
• …accepting new evidence showing I had not driven in the Zolder prize indemnity insurance race won by Robin Donovan in 1992. However the CCRC concluded that although I wasn’t the driver, I was still an unpaid Team member at the time of the race.
Choosing to not refer my case to the Court of Appeal[71], the CCRC decided that the new evidence provided had not met the ‘Real Possibility Test’[72], the legal basis for making a referral. This ‘Test’ has received considerable criticism for some time[73], notably by Dr Michael Naughton, a Director of the Innocence Network UK and leading academic expert on miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions. Dr Naughton has stated that the current ‘Real Possibility Test’ is:
Dr Michael Naughton: “…entirely contrary to what the Royal Commission envisaged and directly against its recommendation that it be ‘independent of both the Government and the courts'” and “means that the CCRC are always in the realm of second-guessing what the Court of Appeal may think about cases that are received following a referral by the CCRC”.
[74]
My case was subsequently published on CCRC Watch[75], an Empowering the Innocent project, established by Dr Naughton.
Link to view all citations
CCRC Protest 10th May 2024:
Personal Life and Education:
I grew up in Brighton, West Sussex. I was educated at St Christopher’s School Hove, and then as a boarder at Shoreham Grammar School. My school days were always traumatic, being regularly beaten by teachers to the point of drawing blood, socially excluded and bullied by fellow pupils due to my undiagnosed learning difficulties and profound dyslexia. I was subsequently diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (ASD) and ADHD.
I left school at the age of 15 with no formal qualifications but with a keen interest in electronics.
When I was 18, I established my own electronics company in Portslade, East Sussex. The Company rapidly expanded and within a couple of years, occupied a 5000 square foot factory, designing and manufacturing smoke detection systems for the fire and security industry. In 1979 I designed and began manufacturing one of the first low cost, low emission, ionization smoke detectors. At age 24, I lost interest in electronics and walked away from my Portslade factory to focus on my childhood dream of becoming a racing driver. I was fortunate in that my early success in electronics acted as a springboard enabling me to move into the world of motorsport, where with the support of actor Gareth Hunt I became a full time driver and owner of my own WSCC racing Team.
In 1985, I married Mary Elizabeth Turner and we have two fantastic sons, George and Jonathan.
Autism & ADHD
In addition to dyslexia, I am diagnosed with High-functioning autism[42] (now referred to as ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)[43][44].
After that diagnoses back in 2017, “…everything suddenly made sense”, and explained why, as an autistic child, I had always been socially excluded and bullied… At school, some teachers abused me, others would thrash me to the point of drawing blood.
My ASD and ADHD have been both a blessing and a curse, giving me intense focus for electronics and motorsport but also a compulsive additive nature that has very often been misunderstood by others.
Motorsport Summary:
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I’m an autistic ex racing driver and now author of 2 books: Dark Horse and Chequered Justice. That’s a picture of me back in the 80s, in the days when I was young, fit and had hair. Below is a selection of my old toys from way back… the days when I thought I was invincible, and we all trusted that our banks, MP’s and police officers were honest. It’s a very sad day when we’re forced to finally grow up! The poet, writer and broadcaster, Sir John Betjeman once said: “Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows”. My dark hour of reason dawned back in January 1993… |
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November 1979 and my first go in a Royale RP26 FF1600 racing car at the Brands Hatch Racing Stables. I’d dreamed of this day since I was a 7 year old boy.This was the day that my life changed forever and I discovered something that was almost as much fun as sex! |
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After the thrill of the Brands Hatch School, I packed in the day job and decided to go pro! That was my first mistake; my second was to buy this ten-year-old Lotus 61 with an equally old engine and tyres, then try to take on Ayrton Senna and all the other big boys with their brand new toys and super fast engines!I spent most of the year crashing into anything that moved and most things that didn’t. |
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Late in 1980 I sold the old Lotus and decided to upgrade to something a little newer: with the help of Comark Electronics and the Sussex T-Shirt Company I brought this 1978 Royale RP24. It was only 3 years old… and so were the tyres!It was around this time that I meet the New Avengers actor, Gareth Hunt and he agreed to help me find enough backing to move up to FF2000, the next level up. |
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In 1983, with the backing of Gareth Hunt, I managed to persuade a chain of hairdressers to buy me this Delta T82, FF2000 car. In my first race at Brands Hatch I got it into 4th place before spinning at Druids and getting T-boned! The car was a wreck and I woke up in hospital with internal bleeding and various broken and burned bits! |
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Finally working out which end of the grid I should be on… My first pole position at Oulton Park in my Van Diemen RF82, sponsored by Cavendish Finance. I crashed heavily on the second lap! |
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Oh, the arrogance of youth… if I can stick a Formula Ford on pole in the Northern Championship, it must be time to move into the World Championship… what could possibly go wrong (read Dark Horse, if you’d like to find out)! This was my Lola T610 Group C car that I raced in 1984. It was fitted with a 450bhp Cosworth DFL engine. We ran the car in the British Thundersports series and selected World Sportscar races, including the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Sandown Park World Sportscar race in Australia. |
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This car was my big hope for the 1985 season. It’s the Chevron B62 Group C2 car that I commissioned for the 85 World Championship with sponsorship from Goodmans Loudspeakers and Skoal Bandit. Unfortunately the whole project became mired in pointless litigation that prevented the project from ever reaching its full potential. |
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This was the Bardon… The car was originally called the Arundel and had been commissioned by “Eddie Arundel”, the Earl of Arundel. I took over the project in 1986 after the Chevron B62 project finally collapsed.We ran the Bardon throughout the full 86 and 87 World Championships with backing from Goodmans Loudspeakers and DRG Croxley Script. It was fitted with a 450bhp Cosworth DFL engine. |
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I raced this Group 6, Harrier LR5 – 02 throughout 1988 in the National Championship with Dave Mercer. It was built by Lester Ray and was fitted with a Cosworth BDA engine. It was very light, extremely quick and probably the best Harrier ever built. With the backing of Goodmans and Saunier Duval, we secured 3 wins, 2 seconds and 5 lap records! |
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This was the “Pink Panther” Tiga run by the Roy Baker Team. Roy very kindly invited me to drive for him in the World Championship races at Brands Hatch and Sandown Park in Australia in 1988. After seeing my results in the National Series he commented… “You really are a bit of a dark horse, John. I had no idea you were that quick!” Unfortunately, in the Brands Hatch race my co-driver managed to wipe out the entire Mercedes Works Team! |
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Same car but the other side of the planet. After the embarrassment at Brands Hatch, Roy Baker very kindly offered me a drive at the 1988 Sandown Park World Championship race in Australia. The Hilton Hotel in Melbourne sponsored me with the penthouse suite of the Melbourne Hilton. Very nice! Unfortunately, it was after this race, when returning to the UK via Malaysia, I fell off a racehorse, unwittingly breaking my back in two places. It took almost 3 years before a specialist diagnosed what I’d done. |
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In an attempt to build on the impressive results I had in the pervious year, I agreed a two-year deal to race a new Harrier LR 7, built to Group C spec with a Chevrolet engine for 89 and 90. This LR 7 Harrier later became known as the “Scorpion” for some reason. At this time the medical professionals failed to correctly identify significant spinal fractures, flattened nerves and broken vertebrae from my riding accident. As a result, I continued trying to compete, totally unaware I had severe spinal injuries and that each time I got back in a race car, I was further damaging my spine. |
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Same car as above (LR 7 or Scorpion), but different livery. JJ Properties were my co-driver (Robin Donovan) sponsor. They went bust on me owing around £20K! The following year, co-driving with Robin Donovan and his new sponsor, Henley Sports Cars supposedly sponsoring my team…. however, they also went bust owing me another £20K! The recession of the late 80s was beginning to bite and my team was now teetering on the brink…. |
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With the UK sliding into recession and my broken vertebrae still not diagnosed, and still unaware that each time I attempted to race I was doing more damage, I entered the US IMSA Series racing a Spice car. |
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Probably my best ever race. This was the Roger Nevet prepared Sky TV/Cavendish Finance sponsored Sierra Cosworth I drove with Robin Donovan. After an incident early in the race, we were running last, around 30 laps behind the last car… we won Class A and in doing so, I not only closed the 30 lap deficit but also set the fastest lap in the race and in the wet. At the end of my stint, I had to be physically lifted out of the car by the pit crew and could barely walk for 2 days. It would take another two 2 years before medical professionals took MRI scans of my spine and correctly identified the fractures, flattened nerves and broken vertebrae. |
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This is a shot of my race at Lime Rock, driving the Gunnar 966 Porsche (4th July 1991), wining and getting fastest lap at the Independence Day Trophy (IMSA GTP class). I has in so much pain at this point, I was unable to race the same car the following year in a price indemnity race at Zolder, so was driven by my former co-driver Robin Donovan. Basically, it was a bet with an insurance company. |
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The lack of an accurate diagnosis and my repeated attempts to return to racing, caused major ramifications with my insurers, leading them to accuse me of fraud and complaints that I couldn’t have been injured (see legal section). In 1993 I was arrested and charged with fraud. |
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With a now ongoing police investigation, against legal and medical advice I returned in 1993 for a final season, racing the Lola T89 Buick IndyCar for the Star Union Team in Interserie. At the time it was clearly a mistake, but in my defence, I am diagnosed as with ASD and ADHD, and I tend to be very focused and to think a bit differently! To me, racing was the only way of paying our bills. I didn’t consider how it would exacerbate all the legal problems! What could possibly go wrong now? A new odyssey was about to begin (read Chequered Justice)… |
John Bartlett 
An amazing series of cars. Very useful illustrations for readers of your two books. Now I can see them – at last!
Thanks Tim, pity it wasn’t properly visible to everyone when your interview first went live… typical of my luck! If you liked the photos, I hope you’ll also like the video I’ve just loaded onto the home page. It covers the era I was racing in the World Sportscar Championship and for me, is very evocative.
I think I still have the sign writing pounces for the Bardon…Goodmans etc
Interesting to see what happened in 90s to you…didn’t realise you and David did so well…and even in Lester’s machinery!
Good to hear from you after all this time, Chris. That particular Harrier (LR7) was really good, chiefly due to Dave Mercer’s development the previous year… a totally different design/setup to the earlier DB/RD Harrier Cosworth you had, I think in 87? I think Dave’s LR7 was built around an F3 Ralt suspension and upright set up. Unfortunately Dave sold it the following year (1989)… I did one race in it in 89 with a new, different team but sadly it was a totally changed car by then… horrendous, soft, sloppy set up with a poor engine! There will be some video of the LR7, Bardon & Sky Sierra Cosworth on this page in a week or so.
Anyway, what are you up to nowadays?…. just curious, as having no idea what “pounces” were, I looked it up in my wife’s dictionary, but being rather dyslexic I missed out the “U”, to discover: “a man who lives off prostititute’s earnings!”…. somewhat confused, I turned to the internet… thank goodness Google copes with dyslexia!
Hi John,
Great to see all the cars you drove on your website.
You might be surprised but I’m writing a one page article about the Arundel/Bardon car for Dutch magazine “RTLGP Magazine”. We’re planning to run the article in the april issue.
Although I have consulted books, magazines and the internet, I am still trying to figure out where the car has been since it’s rebuilt and last appearance at the Silverstone classic in 2007.
Do you have any information?
Hi Erik
Interesting to hear that you are writing an article about the old Bardon! Any chance of sending me a copy once it’s out? I don’t know too much about who has it currently or when it last ran at Silverstone in 2007 but if I can help you with any other background information please contact me at john@chequeredjustice.com or call my office on 01622 754280 and we can have a chat. You might also like to read Dark Horse where the Bardon features.
Regards
John
Hi John happy memories of the Lola T610 my brother sponsored you and Steve and the car was launched at World of Leather Reading. My son Harry has been racing karts since he was 8 moved onto Ginetta Junior now in the FunCup as endurance racing is his passion. All best wishes to you Nick Mailer
Hi Nick, good to hear from you after all these years. They were great times. I still have a few photos of that launch. The story behind the Lola is in my book, Dark Horse. Have you read it… or Chequered Justice? If you’re ever at the track with your son and happen to have the odd pass, do give me a call and I’ll pop down for a chat and a beer!
Hi John, I will get your books would be great to meet up, Harry’s next FunCup race is Snetterton practice Friday 6 hour race Saturday next week. If you would like to come along of course have a pass for you, my mobile is **** ******. I know the guys who run the team would love to meet you lots to catch up on!