Luke Ashton: Betting firm denies bombarding man before he died

Annie Ashton's petition calling for gambling incentives to be banned has had more than 31,000 signatures

A betting firm has told a coroner's court it "did not bombard" a man with gambling promotions before he died.

A barrister for Betfair appeared at a pre-inquest review for Luke Ashton, 40, from Leicester.

His wife Annie Ashton previously said he developed a gambling problem that "quickly got out of control" before he took his own life in April 2021.

Since then she has set up a petition to bring in "Luke's Law", calling for an end to free betting incentives.

Ms Ashton told the BBC last year that her husband had repeatedly been drawn back into gambling by companies offering him free bets.

Appearing at Leicester Coroner's Court, Mr Philip Kolvin KC, representing Flutter Ltd - Betfair's parent company - said the firm was "accountable" to rules set out by the Gambling Commission.

"From this very sad case [sent] to the Gambling Commission, there is no regulatory investigation against it," he said.

Mrs Ashton said her husband's addiction "quickly got out of control"

Mr Kolvin KC said Betfair "did not bombard" Mr Ashton with gambling offers and they were available to all customers.

"My client sent Mr Ashton no direct marketing whatsoever. In broad terms, Mr Ashton took advantage of a free £5 bet per calendar month - available to all users," he said.

As Mr Kolvin KC began to speak about Mr Ashton's medical history, Jesse Nicholls, representing the family, interrupted him following gasps in the public gallery.

He asked if the points could be made more sensitively without reading out "personal and distressing material".

"You've heard the nature of the reaction behind me - the family were not forewarned that this submission would be made," Mr Nicholls said.

He added they had caused "considerable upset and distress".

Mr Kolvin KC apologised and said it was not his intention to cause offence.

'Difficult case'

Mr Nicholls told the court: "Mr Kolvin has set out the position of Betfair in this inquest - I didn't do the same in setting out the family's concerns because I didn't think this was the forum to give such a speech.

"I know you're aware of those concerns [about Betfair]."

Ivan Cartwright, area corner for Leicester and South Leicestershire, said: "This is a difficult case resulting in the very sad death of Luke Ashton which is something that still reverberates around the family and always will."

The inquest is set to take place over two days between April and June.