The parent company of Betfair pledged to maintain the highest standards when it comes to customer responsibility after a coroner ruled a gambling disorder contributed to the death of a Leicester man in 2021.
Luke Ashton, a married father of two, was 40 at the time of death and had endured problems with gambling for a while, his wife Annie told an inquest this month.
It is thought the hearing was the first time a gambling company had been formally involved, and coroner Ivan Cartwright on Thursday said Betfair could have done more to help Ashton, who had debts of £18,000 and was betting up to 100 times a day.
“Luke Ashton was assessed as a low-risk gambler although his activity was more intensive in the ten weeks prior to his death,” he added.
“The operator did not intervene or interact with Luke in any meaningful way.
“Luke Ashton died as a result of his own actions. At the time of his death, he was suffering from a gambling disorder that was longstanding and that contributed to the decision to take his own life.”
Betfair, along with Paddy Power and Sky Bet, operate under the banner of Flutter UK & Ireland, whose chief executive Ian Brown said: “We wish to reiterate our sincere condolences to Mrs Ashton and her family. We are truly sorry for their loss.
“Flutter UKI is committed to doing the right thing and creating an environment for customers to enjoy our products in a safe and sustainable way. Over the past three years we have made significant changes to our controls, including mandatory deposit limits for customers who return to our sites after a period of self-exclusion.
“We hold ourselves to the absolute highest standards in the industry and we will, of course, incorporate additional learnings from this tragic case into our systems and processes.”
Ashton, a customer of Betfair’s exchange who mainly bet on horseracing and greyhound racing, was described as a happy man with no diagnosed mental health problems, while Will Prochaska, a spokesperson for Gambling with Lives, which supports families bereaved by gambling-related deaths, said: “The coroner’s conclusions have shown once again how the gambling industry puts profit over people’s lives, continuing to offer bets when all the signs showed a life was in danger.
“This cannot keep happening. The Gambling Commission must remove gambling operators’ licences when they breach them, and the government must take its gambling reforms further and faster.”