Betfair “to adequately protect” a man who took his own life after losing thousands of pounds through gambling, the High Court has been told.
Luke Ashton died aged 40 in April 2021 after losing around £5,500 the previous month over the course of about 1,000 bets.
Annie Ashton, his wife, is bringing legal action against TSE Malta, which trades as Betfair in the UK, and is seeking £846,478 in damages.
Jeremy Hyam KC, for Mrs Ashton, said Betfair owed a duty of care to her husband but “perpetuated the risk of harm” through “the design and operation of an addictive gambling product”, and that the risk of harm was foreseeable.
In written submissions for a hearing on Thursday, he said: “The defendant’s failure to identify Mr Ashton’s gambling as indicative of harm, and its repeated use of only generic automated email contact rather than human interaction, help and support, demonstrates a failure to implement appropriate thresholds or evaluate their impact, thereby failing to adequately protect Mr Ashton against the recognised suicide risk.”
He said Mrs Ashton first learned of her husband’s gambling problem in 2019, around a year after they married.
She found a letter showing he had taken out an £11,000 loan to help cover his debts, which had amounted to £18,000 at the time.
The couple were able to pay off much of this over the following months and Mr Ashton reduced his gambling, but in May and June 2020, after the Covid-19 lockdown, it “escalated markedly”, Mr Hyam said.
He began making larger bets at the start of 2021, including one day in March when he deposited more than £2,500.
Mr Hyam said that during this time, Betfair “took further steps to encourage him to continue and increase his gambling”, by offering more bonuses and rewards.
He said: “No intervention was carried out by Betfair other than a single automated message warning Mr Ashton about an increase in his ‘time onsite’ on 5 February 2021.”
At the time of his death, on April 22 2021, Mr Ashton had no money in his bank accounts and was £15,000 in debt as a result of taking out loans.
Jonathan Hough KC, for Betfair, denied that the company owed a duty of care to Mr Ashton, adding there was a “sophisticated set of safer gambling procedures” in place.
In written submissions, he said that even if Mr Ashton had stopped using Betfair, he would have gambled elsewhere as he used multiple sites.
Mr Ashton self-excluded himself from Betfair three times, each for six months, in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
When he wanted to reopen his account in 2017, he had a telephone call with someone from Betfair, Mr Hough said.
The KC said Betfair’s controls “were at all times correctly applied to Mr Ashton” and that his betting activity was “never exceptional” compared with other players.
The barrister continued: “Even the best-designed systems, rigorously implemented, may not identify patterns or signs indicative of risk which an experienced expert can divine though exhaustive analysis of the data.
“However, in this case, the data contained numerous indications suggesting that Mr Ashton was in control of his gambling.”
Mr Ashton never told Betfair he had a gambling problem, Mr Hough said, adding that he made frequent use of player protection tools such as deposit limits.
The barrister added: “Although Mr Ashton received free bets/rewards, the amounts were very low both in absolute terms and compared with his betting activity and unlikely to have had a material effect on his gambling.”
A spokesperson from Flutter UKI, Betfair’s owners, said: “We reiterate our sincere condolences to Mrs Ashton and her family over this tragic case.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to comment further at this time because of the legal proceedings.”
The trial, before Mr Justice Swift, is expected to finish on June 19.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
