Legal claim filed on the commitment to the death of man’s death

The widow of a man who took his life has filed a legal claim to challenge the decision of the game regulator not taking regulatory measures against an betting company.

Luke Ashton, 40, from Leicester, died in 2021 with debts of £ 18,000, and In 2023, a coroner expressed concern That Betfair lost opportunities to intervene after his game increased.

Annie Ashton said that the decision of the game commission of not taking more measures against Betfair “represents an unacceptable failure to fulfill his regulatory duties.”

In response, the commission said: “We are strongly disagree with any claim that we have been able to adequately regulate operators or protect people from damage.”

Mrs. Ashton, according to her lawyers, argues that the refusal of the commission to Act also “raises serious concerns about their ability to protect people from damage related to the game.”

She is looking for permission from the Superior Court to challenge the decision of the Commission for Judicial Review.

An investigation into the death of Mr. Ashton, who is believed to be the first in the United Kingdom in which a game firm was appointed as an “interested part”, discovered that Betfair should have done more to help him.

Forensic Ivan Cartwright He said he was worried Betfair did not interact or interact significantly when Ashton’s game activity increased.

From the legal claim, Mrs. Ashton said: “The Forensic findings were marked: Betfair could not identify Luke as at risk, he could not intervene and lost opportunities to save his life.

“The Commission cannot regulate behind closed doors without being publicly responsible for its decisions and its failures in making the industry count.”

After Mr. Ashton’s investigation, the coroner issued a future death prevention report, in which he said I was worried That Betfair seems to judge their responsibilities to customers by industry standards (regulatory), “instead of good current practice or best practice.”

The game commission reviewed the case and confirmed in November that it would not take regulatory measures against Betfair.

A spokesman said at that time that Betfair, led by the parent company Flutter, “had been in special measures due to social responsibility and the problems against money laundering” at the time of the death of Mr. Ashton, which turned out in giving £ 635,123 to “beneficial organizations” furting the national strategy to reduce damage to gambling. “

They added: “Taking into account the action that we have already taken and that the new regulatory requirements are now in place, it was considered that no more measures would be taken against the licensee regarding this matter.”

Court officials confirmed that the case was in “Paper Stage”, and reference was still not made to a judge.

In response to the legal claim, a spokesman for the game commission said: “With legal procedures in process we are limited in what we can say.

“However, we strongly disagree with any claim that we have been able to adequately regulate operators or protect people from damage.

“We take solid measures against game businesses. In the last four years we have taken measures against 56 operators that have paid £ 105 million for not protecting consumers.”

A Flutter spokesman added: “We have made a series of improvements in the protections of our players since the beginning of 2021.

“Unfortunately, due to live legal procedures, we cannot comment more at this time.”

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