A Cork betting tipster has been told it is a “bad idea” to keep posting about a rival tipster – who claims to be the “most-followed racing pundit in the world” – while subject of a High Court injunction.
Rob Heneghan, a 27-year-old who runs the gambling tips business Pro Sports Advice Ltd, is suing Cork tipster Gearóid Norris for defamation.
The High Court granted Heneghan an injunction on March 20th to prevent Norris from repeating claims that Heneghan phoned him and threatened to “put a bullet” in his head after Norris wrote critical posts about him. Heneghan said the allegation was false.
Judge Brian Cregan warned Norris that it could be a “very serious matter” if he reposted allegations about Heneghan making a death threat online.
The case has sparked huge interest in the online betting world due to Heneghan’s large social media following. The Drogheda-based pundit has more than 500,000 Instagram followers. Heneghan regularly posts videos of himself on private jets and helicopters. A video showed him on a yacht in Dubai before travelling to Cheltenham.
At Cheltenham he was accompanied by current and former world darts champions Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, and was videoed placing large wagers with them.
In the High Court on Friday, Tom Murphy, barrister for Heneghan, said that after the court granted the injunction against Norris, the Cork-based tipster wrote to Heneghan’s lawyers to say he had removed the Substack article about the alleged death threat.
Norris said he would take down all other articles referring to Heneghan but days later wrote online that he was republishing his Heneghan articles.
Murphy complained there was “a contradiction” in the way Norris was addressing the case. He did not seem to appreciate he could face committal proceedings if he breached court injunctions. He said Norris had not complied with an order to provide a recording of the alleged death threat.
Murphy said the detriment to his client of the false claim was “most serious”. He said Norris, who was in court, should realise the risks of his behaviour.
The court has given Heneghan permission to bring to its attention any other articles that are allegedly defamatory and could be subject to a takedown order.
“It is a bad idea if he keeps posting about me,” said Murphy, referring to Heneghan.
The barrister said his client was pursuing the case because “integrity is very important” to him.
He showed the court an article Norris had republished that contained a picture of Heneghan and criticism of his betting business.
In correspondence opened in court to the judge, Heneghan’s solicitors Kane Tuohy complained to Norris that republishing the article that criticised Heneghan’s business was “in breach” of his previous commitment to remove all articles referencing Heneghan.
Heneghan’s solicitors complained that Norris’s actions meant he could be considered “unreliable”.
In court, solicitor Ivan Williams, who represented Norris, said Norris had not breached any court orders. He said there was no recording of the alleged death threat to hand over. He said Norris had republished articles about Heneghan but not the death threat one.
The last filed accounts for Pro Sports Advice Ltd, where Heneghan has 100 per cent of the shares, shows accumulated profits of €1.14 million at the end of 2023.
No 2024 accounts have been filed yet. A note from the Companies Registration Office said the company has three outstanding documents in the last year.
In one video filmed on a private jet, Heneghan says: “Are you sick of losing with your betting? I’m exactly what you’re looking for.”
He claims to “clean the bookies out, year after year”.
Heneghan reports having 15,000 paying members. Membership fees range from €19 a month for his “premium” service to €149 a month for the “Elite VIP” membership.
Racing journalist Johnny Ward said the Heneghan/Norris case was a hot topic of conversation in gambling circles and said Heneghan was particularly popular with young people.
“It is clear from his methods that students buy into the dream he’s selling,” said Ward.
“On the one level I’d laud him for what appears to be a very profitable business. The use of yachts and private jets will clearly be conflated with winning big on Rob’s tips and that raises no end of ethical questions.”
The case will come before the court again next month.