A coroner has criticised a betting operator for failing to intervene over a high volume of bets made by a problem gambler before he took his own life, the first verdict of its kind.

Luke Ashton killed himself in April 2021 after suffering from a pervasive gambling problem, an inquest in Leicester heard.

In a narrative verdict after the three-day hearing, area coroner Ivan Cartwright cited a “gambling disorder” as a contributory cause of Ashton’s death. He added: “Luke Ashton was assessed as a low-risk gambler although his activity was more intensive in the 10 weeks prior to his death.”

He also noted that Betfair did not “interact or intervene with Luke in any meaningful way between 2019 and the date of Luke’s death when more efforts to intervene or interact should have been made”.

Campaigners have said the verdict was unprecedented in its criticism of a betting firm and in identifying a gambling disorder as a contributor factor in a death. Cartwright said he will also publish a prevention of future deaths report about the case.

Ashton’s widow Annie welcomed the ruling. She said it “vindicates what I have argued all along, that gambling is destructive, destroys families and causes suicides”.

She added: “My hope is that all gambling companies will take note of today’s strong conclusion and will urgently adjust their practices to provide proper interactions or intervention so a larger number of people to prevent further harms and deaths caused by gambling. It is clear to me that Betfair’s categorisation of Luke as ‘low risk’ was not fit for purpose and that their assessment of risk does not have the safety of their customers in mind.”

The hearing was thought to be the first time a gambling firm has been formally involved in an inquest. Flutter UK, which owns Betfair, was made an “interested person” at the proceedings.

During the inquest, Betfair admitted it could have done more to protect Ashton. The inquest heard that it used an algorithm for online bets that was supposed to identify customers at risk of harm. This failed to raise “red flags” which in Ashton’s case involved increased betting patterns in the days before his death, the coroner was told.

Economist and gambling expert Prof David Forrest told the inquest that Betfair should have taken “stronger action based on the evolution of his betting”.

He said: “There could have been an option to discuss self-exclusion over the phone, to get some background on what was happening as he may have been experiencing harm.”

Ashton sometimes placed more than 100 online bets a day and lost £5,000 in the month before his suicide, the inquest heard. He was also placing substantially larger bets during this time, it was told.

Richard Clarke, the managing director of Flutter, told the inquest: “Looking at Luke’s activity in March 2021, it does look like we should’ve done more. Looking at the tragic outcome we have here, we would have loved to have done more.”

Will Prochaska, spokesperson for Gambling with Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said: “This cannot keep happening, the Gambling Commission must remove gambling operators’ licence when they breach them, and the government must take its gambling reforms further and faster.”

Ian Brown, Flutter’s chief executive, 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.”

He claimed that, due to changes made by the company, a customer today would be unable to repeat Ashton’s pattern of betting.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org