A “devoted” father-of-two was making up to 100 bets a day on betting websites and had previously racked up £18,000 in debts due to a “pervasive” gambling addiction before he took his own life, an inquest has heard.
Luke Ashton, 40, from Leicester, who died on April 22 2021, was a “happy” man who had no diagnosed mental health issues, his wife Annie told an inquest into her husband’s death on Wednesday.
She said they lived a “happy family life” and Mr Ashton “did not want to die” but he had a gambling addiction that he “did not understand or recognise” that was causing him “pain and harm”, the hearing at Leicester Coroner’s Court was told.
Examinations of Mr Ashton’s betting records had shown he had previously gambled up to 100 times a day including early in the morning and late at night when his wife was in bed and had put bets on greyhound racing and women’s netball, Professor Dame Clare Gerada, president of the Royal College of GPs who specialises in addiction issues, said at the inquest.
In a report on his death that was put together for area coroner Ivan Cartwright, Professor Dame Gerada said she believed Mr Ashton was suffering with a “longstanding and pervasive gambling disorder” and not depression.
When he told me, he was so sorry and didn't really understand it. He said he hated it. He took full responsibility and tried to make amends— Annie Ashton
Mrs Ashton told the hearing, which was attended by representatives of Flutter UK & Ireland, the parent company of gambling operator Betfair, which was made an “interested person” in the inquest, how her husband admitted to her that he had taken out loans and had got into debts of around £18,000 in 2019.
She said she did not realise at the time that her husband had a gambling addiction because he was “really sorry” about what had happened and they managed to pay off what he owed quickly as they were in the process of selling their first home at the time and they used cash from the sale to settle the debts.
She said: “When he told me, he was so sorry and didn’t really understand it. He said he hated it. He took full responsibility and tried to make amends.”
Mrs Ashton, who had been with her husband since 2008 but had known him since 1992 when they were at secondary school together, suggested he see a counsellor about the issue, but he declined because the money he owed had been paid off and he was feeling better.
She said: “He said when he was gambling, he was just trying to get enough money back to pay off the loans and he hated doing it.”
Luke was a bright, happy and bubbly person, who easily made friends ... he had an intelligent, witty sense of humour with a mesmerising, cheeky, unforgettable giggle— Annie Ashton
Mrs Ashton said she believed her husband stopped gambling at the end of 2019 and early 2020 and things had “gone back to normal”, but that he started again during the pandemic when he was furloughed from his full-time job, instead taking up part-time delivery work for a friend.
Wednesday’s inquest, which is expected to last until Friday, did not discuss the details of the day Mr Ashton took his own life or his cause of death, but it was heard that he had not been honest with his wife or his work colleagues about where he was that day.
He had left a number of notes for his wife and children that mentioned gambling twice and he admitted he was suffering with “demons”.
Barrister Philip Kolvin, representing Flutter, said the notes suggested Mr Ashton may have been suffering a mental health condition that pre-dated his experiences with gambling.
However, when asked by barrister Jesse Nicholls, who was at the hearing representing the Ashton family, if Mrs Ashton believed her husband’s death was caused by gambling, she replied: “Yes.”
In a tribute to her husband, Mrs Ashton said: “Luke was a bright, happy and bubbly person, who easily made friends. I first met Luke in 1992, in secondary school, and even then, he had an intelligent, witty sense of humour with a mesmerising, cheeky, unforgettable giggle.”
She added: “Our children wanted for nothing, he was a real rock to us all, but in reality, he masked his own pain, to protect us from what he was going through.
“Luke did not suffer from mental health problems, he led a happy family life and had a good work ethic. However, Luke was suffering from a gambling addiction and unfortunately this was an illness he did not understand or recognise.
“I believe Luke blamed himself, not knowing the facts about his illness and consequently was consumed by how it made him feel.
“Luke did not want to die, he had everything he wanted. The only thing he did not want was the pain and harm he was experiencing from gambling.”
We are absolutely committed to safe gambling and to protecting all our customers. We hold ourselves to the very highest standards in the industry— Ian Brown, chief executive of Flutter
In a statement issued before the inquest started on Wednesday, Ian Brown, chief executive of Flutter, said: “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.”
The inquest continues.
