A successful horsewoman was told off for ‘wasting’ the probation service’s time – and putting her family and animals before talking to a probation officer.

Isabelle ‘Izzy’ Taylor, 39, one of the top-ranked event horse riders in Britain, pleaded guilty in December to breaching fire safety rules at Aldershot Farm in Bucknell, near Bicester – putting at least one person at ‘risk of death or serious injury in case of fire’.

She failed to provide an ‘operational fire detector, alarm system and/or fire extinguisher’ or an adequate separation between bedrooms on an upper floor and electrical equipment on the ground floor, the charges said.

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The magistrates sent the case to Oxford Crown Court for sentence, and ordered the probation service to compile a pre-sentence report to look at alternatives to a prison sentence.

But despite a number of attempts by the probation officer to get in touch with her, Recorder John Bate-Williams was told on Thursday (March 2) that she had failed to return his calls.

The judge told Taylor: “There has been a completely unacceptable lack of communication between you and the probation service. This case clearly passes the custody threshold; there is a danger you’ll be sent to prison.”

He added: “This is a serious matter. You must treat it seriously.”

Defending, Gareth James explained his client’s failure to respond to probation, telling the judge it was ‘not perhaps of the utmost priority’ – taking second place to her ‘family and animals’.

The case was adjourned to April 3 for sentence.