Inquest will consider if Leicester man who died during pandemic had gambling disorder in legal first

An inquest into the death of a man who died during the Covid-19 pandemic will consider whether he had a gambling disorder and whether it contributed to his death.

Luke Ashton, 40, from Leicester, died on April 22 2021, having reportedly suffered “longstanding” problems with gambling, solicitors from Leigh Day, who are representing his wife, say.

An inquest, which is due to be held at Leicester Coroner’s Court between Wednesday and Friday, will include consideration of whether any acts or omissions by gambling company Betfair contributed to Mr Ashton’s death during the pandemic.

Solicitors say the coroner has made Betfair’s parent company, Flutter UK & Ireland, an interested person in the inquest, which is thought to be the first time a gambling operator has been formally involved in an inquest in this way.

The inquest is also due to hear evidence from Mr Ashton’s widow.

Ian Brown, chief executive of Flutter, said in a statement: “We wish to reiterate our sincere condolences to Mrs Ashton and her family. We are truly sorry for their loss.

“Across Flutter UKI, we are absolutely committed to safe gambling and to protecting all our customers. We hold ourselves to the very highest standards in the industry.

“We are constantly learning and updating our processes and we have made many changes over the past three years to make gambling with our brands even safer. We will, of course, incorporate any additional learnings from this tragic case into our controls.”