Gambling disorder contributed to death of father-of-two, coroner concludes

A gambling disorder did contribute to the death of a father-of-two, a coroner has said, as he concluded a betting company could have done more to help him before he took his own life.

Luke Ashton had lost thousands of pounds gambling on Betfair’s exchange before he died at the age of 40 on April 22 2021, and had previously racked up debts of £18,000.

At the conclusion of a three-day inquest into his death at Leicester Coroner’s Court on Thursday, area coroner Ivan Cartwright said he was “perplexed” that the betting company’s algorithm, which is designed to detect the risk of harm among their customers, did not flag Mr Ashton as being a problem gambler.

He said: “He was assessed as being a low risk gambler although his activity was more intensive in the 10 weeks prior to his death.

“The operator did not intervene or interact with Mr Ashton in any meaningful way.”

He was suffering from a gambling disorder that was longstanding and that contributed to the decision to take his own life

Mr Cartwright added that if they had, it “may have changed the outcome”.

He told the inquest that he was planning to produce a prevention of future deaths report within 14 days, and that his “greatest concern” was surrounding interaction and intervention.

Recording his cause of death as hanging and a gambling disorder, Mr Cartwright added: “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.”

Three days’ worth of evidence heard at Leicester Town Hall between June 14-16 heard that Mr Ashton had become “consumed” by gambling and his activity on the Betfair exchange had spiked in the weeks before he took his own life.

He had been gambling more than 100 times a day, early in the morning and late at night when his wife Annie was in bed.

He had not shared details of his betting activities or the way he was feeling before he died and had no diagnosed mental health conditions.

Professor Dame Clare Gerada, president of the Royal College of GPs who specialises in addiction issues, had previously told the inquest it was her professional opinion that Mr Ashton had a “pervasive” gambling addiction.

Will Prochaska, spokesman for Gambling With Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, 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.”

In a statement, Ian Brown, chief executive of Flutter UKI, Betfair’s parent company, 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.”

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