Luke Ashton death: Betfair ‘failed to adequately protect’ gambler who took own life after losing thousands, court told

Betfair would have “adequately protected” a man who committed suicide after losing thousands of pounds gambling, the High Court has been told.

Luke Ashton died in April 2021, aged 40, after losing around £5,500 on nearly 1,000 bets the previous month.

His wife, Annie Ashton, is suing TSE Malta, which trades as Betfair in the UK, and is seeking £846,478 in compensation.

Jeremy Hyam KC, for Mrs Ashton, said Betfair owed a duty of care to her husband but “remained at risk of loss” due to the “design and operation of an addictive gambling product” and the risk of loss was foreseeable.

In written submissions to Thursday’s hearing, he said: “The defendant’s failure to identify Mr Ashton’s gambling as indicative of harm, and his repeated use of only generic automated email communication rather than human interaction, help and support, demonstrates that he failed to apply appropriate thresholds or assess their impact, thereby failing to adequately protect Mr Ashton from the known risk of suicide.”

He said Ms Ashton first learned of her husband’s gambling problem in 2019, about a year after they married.

He found a letter showing he had taken out a loan of £11,000 to cover his debts, which then amounted to £18,000.

The couple were able to pay off much of this in the following months and Mr Ashton reduced his gambling, although Mr Hyam said it “increased markedly” in May and June 2020, after the Covid-19 lockdown.

He started making bigger bets at the beginning of 2021; this includes a day in March when he deposited more than £2,500.

Mr Hyam said that during this time Betfair had “taken further steps to encourage him to continue and increase his gambling” by offering more bonuses and rewards.

He said: “No action was taken by Betfair other than a single automated message on 5 February 2021 alerting Mr Ashton that his ‘time on site’ had increased.”

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 from loans he had taken out.

Betfair’s Jonathan Hough KC rejected the claim that the company owed Mr Ashton a duty of care, adding that it had “a range of improved, safer gambling procedures”.

In his written submissions, Mr Ashton said that even if he had stopped using Betfair he would gamble elsewhere because he used multiple sites.

Mr Ashton removed himself from Betfair on three occasions, for six months each in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Mr Hough said he had a phone conversation with someone from Betfair when he wanted to reopen his account in 2017.

KC said Betfair’s controls “were applied correctly to Mr Ashton at all times” and that his betting activity was “never exceptional” compared to other players.

“Even the most well-designed systems, rigorously implemented, may not identify patterns or signs indicative of risk that an experienced professional can predict despite extensive analysis of the data,” the lawyer continued.

“However, in this case the data contained numerous indicators that suggested Mr Ashton was in control of his gambling.”

Mr Ashton never told Betfair he had a gambling problem, Mr Hough said, adding that he frequently used player protection tools such as deposit limits.

The solicitor added: “Although Mr Ashton received free bets/prizes, the amounts were very low both in absolute terms and compared to his betting activities and were unlikely to have a material impact on his gambling.”

A spokesman for Flutter UKI, which owns Betfair, said: “We reiterate our deepest condolences to Ms Ashton and her family on this tragic incident.

“Unfortunately, due to the legal process, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

The hearing before Mr Justice Swift is expected to finish on 19 June.

If you are feeling distressed or struggling to cope, you can talk or email the Samaritans confidentially on 116 123 (UK and ROI). jo@samaritans.orgor visit Samaritans Website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are a US resident and you or someone you know needs mental health help right now, call or text 988 or visit: 988lifeline.org To access online chat on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that anyone can access 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.