A British court dismissed a negligence lawsuit against Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair after the family of Luke Ashton, 40, said his suicide was linked to gambling.
Ashton, from Leicester, died in 2021. His family said in a 2024 lawsuit that Betfair encouraged his gambling through promotions and addictive product design. A legal victory for the family would have been a landmark ruling.
On Friday, Nov. 13, High Court Judge Jonathan Swift in London ruled that the specific legal duty of care the family alleged did not apply.
GamblingHarm.org reached out to Leigh Day, the law firm representing the family, for comment but didn’t hear back at the time of writing.
Coroner’s Findings
According to Reuters, Swift found insufficient evidence that Ashton had a gambling addiction. The judge concluded that the legal requirement of “foreseeability” — whether the relevant harm could reasonably have been anticipated — was not met.
“There is no sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that Mr Ashton did suffer from gambling disorder and that being so, no possible basis which the requirement for foreseeability could be met,” the ruling said.
That appears to conflict sharply with an official medical investigation. In June 2023, a coroner concluded that Ashton had an addiction since at least 2019 and that it contributed to his suicide.
The coroner also criticized the gambling company, identifying instances where harm might have been prevented.
Legal Stakes
Ultimately, the coroner’s findings did not establish Betfair’s civil liability.
Betfair successfully denied negligence. It argued gambling companies have no general legal obligation to protect users with addiction.
The legal ruling represents a setback for U.K. efforts to establish greater legal accountability for gambling-related harm through negligence lawsuits.
Gambling reform campaigner Annie Ashton, widow of Luke, also filed a legal claim with the High Court to challenge the U.K. Gambling Commission’s decision not to take regulatory action against Betfair.
Similar addiction-related lawsuits have been filed against Flutter’s FanDuel in the U.S. To date, there has been no major court ruling in favor of someone allegedly harmed by online gambling in a lawsuit against FanDuel.
