A JOCKEY left crippled in a horrific fall has launched a bid for £5m in damages from the rider he claims caused the accident.

Paul Goode, 37, from Welbury, near Northallerton, suffered catastrophic injuries during a race in Australia which left him confined to a wheelchair and robbed him of his career.

He fell to the cinder track after his mount crashed through rails during a race at Queanbeyan in New South Wales in June 2009.

Now, in an Australian case, he is suing race winner Tye Angland - and in an unprecedented move, judges and lawyers have flown half-way around the world to hold the trial in a UK courtroom.

Barrister Tony Bartley told Judge Ian Harrison that Sydney rider Mr Angland had broken one of the “hard and fast rules” of racing.

Having pulled out to round a bend, he had then returned to his line without leaving Mr Goode two lengths' space. The horses clipped heels, sending Mr Goode's mount, Shot of the Rails, careering through the fence and the jockey crashing to the track.

“It is possibly the most dangerous single manoeuvre one can perform on a race track,” said the barrister.

He said Mr Angland admitted hearing the horses come together, but did not realise there had been a fall and he went on to win the race on his horse Port Gallery.

He added: “The fundamental negligence on the part of Mr Angland is something jockeys are taught about from the very beginning of their training in apprentice schools both in the UK and Australia.

“What is really a hard and fast rule in racing is called 'the two length rule'.

“That is, if you're going to come back in and you think it's even a possibility you might cause interference, you must not come in unless there is a good two lengths.”

He said Mr Angland had claimed that Mr Goode came up on the inside of him.

The case is expected to continue for three weeks in London's Royal Courts of Justice, before moving to Australia, where Mr Angland, who is denying liability, will give evidence.

Mr Goode now lives in an adapted house near Northallerton, but is unable to work due to his disabilities.

He had moved to Australia on a working holiday initially in 2004 after a successful start to his career in the UK in the late 1990s.

He was an apprentice with Patrick Haslam, winning his first race in Wolverhampton in 1997 and in the UK, he was best known for his wins on prolific sprinter Sihafi.

The Tottenham Hotspur fan returned to North Yorkshire with his wife, Catherine, in 2012, three years after his accident.