Betting firm sued - for betting

2008-02-14 17:05

London - A compulsive gambler is suing a British betting chain for £2m in losses he racked up despite asking the firm to bar him, he said on Thursday.

Graham Calvert, a 28-year-old greyhound trainer, will go to the High Court next week in a bid to force William Hill to repay his losses because it failed in a duty of care to him.

Calvert, from Tyne and Wear in northeastern England, said he told the company to bar him in May 2006, but was later allowed to open a new account with them.

"If I'd known I had the problem and didn't do anything about it, I would see myself as being 100% responsible," he told the BBC. "The fact is that I did try to go through the right procedures and I was let down."

Calvert's losses included £347 000 on one bet alone, in which he forecast that the United States would win golf's Ryder Cup championships.

Calvert sought to be barred under a process known as "self-exclusion". His lawyer Peter Hornsey said the court hearing will be a test case for betting shops' social responsibility.

"This case is important not just on a personal level for Mr Calvert but also for the betting industry as a whole," he said.

"It goes to the issue of how bookmakers treat people who have gambling problems via their self-exclusion policy and whether they can be held responsible when they advertise themselves as offering self-exclusion and promoting socially-responsible gambling."

The court case is due to start next Monday, and last five days.

- SAPA