The widow of a printing industry worker who took his own life after becoming addicted to online gambling has called for a new law to ban free bet offers.
An inquest into the death of Luke Ashton began yesterday (14 June) at Leicester Coroner’s Court.
Ashton died on 22 April 2021, aged 40.
He was working for Leicester-based Greenshires Group at the time and had been a print finisher at the business for nearly a decade.
Prior to that he worked at web offset printer Artisan Press, also in post-press.
Ashton is survived by his widow Annie and their two children.
He had suffered longstanding problems with gambling and the inquest will consider whether he had a gambling disorder and whether this caused or contributed to his death.
Jonathan Green, group operations manager at Greenshires, said: “It was all very sad and a huge shock to us all.”
Annie Ashton told The Guardian that after admitting to his problems and clearing a large gambling debt, her husband had opted out from Betfair marketing materials in 2017 following a period of self-exclusion.
But he still received a monthly £5 free bet available to all users, having joined its rewards scheme.
Annie Ashton has campaigned against these free bet offers and called for the introduction of a ‘Luke’s law’ to ban them.
The coroner has made Betfair’s parent company, Flutter UK & Ireland, an Interested Person in the inquest. This is believed to be the first time a gambling operator has been formally involved in an inquest in this way.
In a statement, Flutter UK & Ireland CEO Ian Brown said: “We wish to reiterate our sincere condolences to Mrs Ashton and her family. We are truly sorry for their loss.
“Across Flutter UK&I, we are absolutely committed to safe gambling and to protecting all our customers. We hold ourselves to the very highest standards in the industry.
“We are constantly learning and updating our processes and we have made many changes over the past three years to make gambling with our brands even safer. We will, of course, incorporate any additional learnings from this tragic case into our controls.”
The inquest is expected to conclude tomorrow. Annie Ashton is being represented by Merry Varney and Dan Webster from solicitors Leigh Day and barrister Jesse Nicholls from Matrix Chambers.
Today (15 June) The Guardian announced that it had banned all gambling advertising in any of its print and digital titles worldwide, with the exception of lottery advertising that involves raising money for good causes.
Samaritans offers support for people who are struggling and may be experiencing suicidal thoughts – day or night, 365 days a year. Call for free on 116 123, email [email protected], or visit samaritans.org.