Widow slams regulator over 'inadequate' bet probe

The widow of a man who took his own life has criticised the gambling watchdog for failing to take action against a betting company.

Luke Ashton, 40, from Leicester, died in 2021 with debts of £18,000, and last year a coroner expressed concerns that Betfair missed opportunities to intervene after his gambling spiked.

Annie Ashton said she was shocked after being informed earlier this month that the Gambling Commission would not take further action against Betfair.

In response, the regulator said it would continue to "challenge the industry to make sure operators are interacting with customers and identifying early signs of harm".

An inquest held at Leicester Town Hall in June 2023 heard Mr Ashton placed 1,229 bets in March 2021 and on one day of that month alone, he deposited £2,500 into his betting account.

Mr Ashton's body was found in a rented flat near Mexborough, South Yorkshire, after his wife reported him missing and his phone was tracked using an app.

Coroner Ivan Cartwright concluded gambling disorder was a cause of Mr Ashton's death following the inquest, which was thought to be the first in the UK in which a gambling firm was named as an "interested party".

The coroner said Betfair missed opportunities to "intervene meaningfully".

In a prevention of future deaths report, published after the inquest, he said he was concerned that Betfair appears to judge its responsibilities to customers by industry [regulatory] standards, "rather than current good or best practice".

Copies of the document were also sent to the Gambling Commission and Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport at the time of the inquest.

After the inquest, a spokesman for Flutter - which owns Betfair - said it would respond formally, but added it had made improvements to monitoring betting practices since early 2021, which would prevent a customer in Mr Ashton's circumstances from betting in a similar manner.

Solicitors acting on behalf of Mrs Ashton wrote to the Gambling Commission in August 2023 asking it to take regulatory action in light of the concerns identified by the coroner.

The regulator initially decided not to take further action in March 2024 and said concerns identified at the inquest had already been "adequately addressed".

However, it later informed Mrs Ashton the decision had "mistakenly been made without considering the coroner's findings and conclusion".

The watchdog wrote to her again on 8 November to say it had again decided that no further regulatory action was needed.

Mrs Ashton is now considering taking legal action.

"The Gambling Commission's failure to take any action in light of the serious failings identified at Luke's inquest is an unacceptable failure to carry out its regulatory duties and gives rise to serious concerns about its fitness for purpose as a regulatory body which purportedly serves to protect the public from harm," she said.

"Despite acknowledging the serious concerns in Luke's case, [it] has taken well over a year to make a decision following the inquest and has now maintained that no regulatory action will be taken, for reasons which are entirely inadequate."

The Gambling Commission said Betfair "had been in special measures because of social responsibility and anti-money laundering issues" at the time of Mr Ashton's death, which resulted in it giving £635,123 to "charities furthering the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms".

"Taking into account the action we have already taken and that new regulatory requirements are now in place, it was considered that no further action would be taken against the licensee in respect of this matter," it said.

"In line with our statutory duties, as the gambling regulator we will continue to take enforcement action, clamp down on irresponsible products, update our policies in line with best practice, and challenge the industry to make sure operators are interacting with customers and identifying early signs of harm."

A Flutter spokesperson added: "We reiterate our sincere condolences to Mrs Ashton and her family over this tragic case.

"Flutter UKI holds itself to the very highest standards in our industry and we have made a number of changes to our controls and player protections since early 2021.

"Due to live legal proceedings, we are unfortunately unable to comment any further at this time."

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