Luke Ashton: Widow vows to fight for tougher gambling safeguards

Annie Ashton said she always believed gambling was the cause of her husband's death

The widow of a man who killed himself after building up large debts gambling online said she would never stop campaigning for tougher regulation.

Luke Ashton, 40, from Leicester, took his own life in April 2021 after betting increasing sums.

A coroner said last month that he was concerned Betfair did not intervene meaningfully when Mr Ashton's gambling activity spiked.

His wife, Annie Ashton, has vowed to continue fighting for more safeguards.

Mrs Ashton successfully pressed for the inquest to consider wider questions of betting safeguards

Mrs Ashton said she and her husband were unaware of the issues surrounding gambling disorders in the run-up to his death.

She added: "We didn't know a gambling disorder existed, but it is more common than people think.

"Luke didn't have those signposts. He didn't have the ability to know what he was going through.

"He was just so consumed by gambling that the only way he thought was an out was, unfortunately, to take his own life."

Betfair was named as an "interested party" in the inquest and Mrs Ashton said she had pressed the coroner to consider specifically the wider questions of betting safeguards in the build-up to her husband's inquest last month.

Mrs Ashton said it was important to know gambling addiction could "happen to anyone"

She said there were a number of warning signs, which Betfair's monitoring algorithm either missed or discounted - assessing him as "low risk".

Mr Ashton had asked betting firms to suspend taking his bets three times in the past.

"Now that is a huge red flag," said Mrs Ashton. "Anyone self-excluding just once should have been on the radar.

"But the thresholds for him being a high-risk gambler were set too high."

Mr Ashton was also on the site for up to 14 hours a day, both early in the morning and late at night.

He placed 1,229 bets in March 2021 and on one day of that month alone, he deposited £2,500.

Mrs Ashton said she was satisfied with the outcome of the inquest.

"I wanted accountability, but I also wanted people to know how much of a normal person Luke was and how this could happen to literally anyone," she said.

"I think I am achieving that, I think the stigma is being broken down.

"I want people to be able to speak about it because Luke felt like he couldn't.

"And I will not stop campaigning for that and Luke would be so proud that from this tragic story, he has done so much for people."

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