Annie Ashton says not enough is being done to protect addicts like her late husband Luke

A widow whose husband took his own life after amassing huge debts has said enough is not being done to protect addicts like him.

Annie Ashton has launched a legal challenge against the Gambling Commission at the High Court. She accuses the regulator of failing to adequately protect gamblers like her late husband Luke, who died in 2021 after racking up debts of £18,000.

Luke, 40, was found by a coroner to have had a gambling disorder that contributed to his death. Despite this, he was not classified as a problem gambler.

In 2024, the commission decided against taking regulatory action against the betting company Betfair on two occasions. Mrs Ashton has expressed her dissatisfaction with the Gambling Commission’s efforts to safeguard consumers and vowed to ‘continue fighting it until something is done’.

She shared her grief and frustration, saying: “I didn’t think there would be anyone else after that (Luke’s death), and then the reality is there is another family, and you’re meeting another family where someone has died from gambling-related suicide, you are hearing stories that operators were misbehaving and the things that they have gone through.

“The Gambling Commission are part of that problem because what they should have done is made this so that people were aware of what is happening.

“This is a government body. They should have been protecting, they should have been regulating, they should be making sure that customers are safe, they should be regulating with the view to enforcing if necessary, and they are not doing their job.”

The inquest into Mr Ashton’s death, held in June 2023, was reportedly the first in the UK to list a gambling company as an Interested Person in the proceedings. Mr Ashton had a severe gambling addiction, often betting over 100 times daily, described by a medical expert as ‘pervasive’, yet he was not classified as a problem gambler.

Before taking his own life in South Yorkshire on April 22, 2021, Mr Ashton had not disclosed the impact of his addiction on his mental health. Following the inquest, area coroner Ivan Cartwright expressed ongoing concerns that Betfair and its parent company, Flutter, failed to take any measures to curb Mr Ashton’s gambling. He also stated that player protection tools ‘were and are inadequate to protect a person such as Mr Ashton’.

Leigh Day, the law firm representing Mrs Ashton in the legal challenge, noted that the commission reviewed the inquest findings but chose not to take regulatory action in March of the previous year. This decision was partly due to issues already being addressed while Betfair was under special measures between January and June 2021.

Leigh Day has stated that the regulatory body revisited its initial decision but in November 2024 once more opted against taking action. This was partly due to uncertainties about when certain changes occurred in 2021 and concerns that ‘that it was likely to be difficult to investigate these issues now, given the passage of time’.

Mrs Ashton, who dedicates part of her time to a gambling harm charity while pursuing a PhD, is seeking ‘public accountability’ through her legal battle.

“I don’t think that Betfair has felt what it should have felt as regards accountability. They have not had the sanctions that they should have had,” she claimed.

“The fact there has been no regulatory sanction, or any public announcement on their behalf, or any naming and shaming, which there should have been, it feels like the lesson that they should have learned has been missed. For me, that is potentially quite frustrating, but also it is a serious concern as if operators are not being called out for their bad behaviour, then they are not deterred from doing it again.”

A spokesperson for the commission responded to the allegations, saying: “With legal proceedings in process we are limited in what we can say. However, we vigorously disagree with any claims we have failed to adequately regulate operators or protect people from harm.

“We take robust action against gambling businesses. In the last four years, we have taken action against 56 operators who have paid out £105 million for failing to protect consumers.”

Only recently, an operator incurred a fine of £98,400 for neglecting to monitor the wellbeing of a customer who spent £2,000 in a mere two days.

An official representative of Betfair said: “We hold ourselves to the highest standards in the industry and we reiterate our sincere condolences to Mrs Ashton and her family over this tragic case. We have made a number of improvements to our player protections since early 2021. Unfortunately, due to live legal proceedings we are unable to comment any further at this time.”

Confidential and free support can be accessed by anyone who requires it by calling the Samaritans on 116 123, emailing jo@samaritans. org, or by going to the Samaritans website.