Gambler Sues Ladbrokes to Recover “Illegal” Bets He Placed in Spain

A Scottish gambler is suing Ladbrokes seeking to recover £3.3 million he gambled away with the bookmaker and claiming that the company broke the law by accepting his phone bets that he placed while on a holiday in Spain.

According to court papers, Terry Allan, 57, splurged about £400,000 a week at a Ladbrokes betting shop in Aberdeen where he lives. He mostly placed his bets over the telephone.

Mr. Allan owns oil recruitment firms that supply staff to the North Sea oil and gas industries. Court papers claim he was a valued customer at Ladbrokes’ Rose Street shop in Aberdeen due to his frequent bets and the huge amounts he wagered at the shop.

RELATED: Ladbrokes Eludes Penalty over Problem Gambler’s Victims NDAs

It is understood that he was regularly invited out with Ladbrokes management and was treated to golf trips to Spain with the bookmaker’s top officials after placing “many thousands” in wagers.

At some point he was even provided with a dedicated telephone line to the shop to lay bets. According to court papers, Mr. Allan was “on friendly terms” with staff at the Ladbrokes shop. The claimant would discuss his trips to Spain, which means that shop staff were aware he was in Spain when he placed many of his bets with the shop over the telephone.

Punter Seeks to Recover Bets Plus Interest

In documents filed in the London High Court, Mr. Allan’s lawyer, Thomas Hulme, said that between 2011 and 2019, the claimant was a “prolific customer” at the Labrokes shop placing regular bets, primarily over the telephone.

Mr. Hulme went on that in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, his client bet “many thousands of individual wagers” with Ladbrokes, with average weekly stakes of £400,000.

Mr. Allan seeks to recover more than £1.1 million he spent with Ladbrokes in 2016, another £1.1 million he gambled away in 2017, and £1.087 million he splurged on gambling with the bookmaker in 2018.

He also seeks to reclaim his bets from 2014 and 2015 but is yet to determine the amounts he spent and wants back. The gambler additionally wants to be paid an interest of 8%. He argues that every bet he placed over the telephone from his holiday home in Spain was illegal as Ladbrokes does not have a license to operate in that country.

All of the amounts Mr. Allan seeks from the bookmaker are minus his winnings.

Commenting on the matter, Ladbrokes said that they believe Mr. Allan’s claim “to be without merit and intend to defend it vigorously.”

News about Ladbrokes’ legal trouble emerge shortly after the gambling operator, which is part of GVC Holdings, was slammed in media for facilitating a punter’s excessive gambling as he was gambling away a one-off compensation he received after a botched operation that had left him severely disabled.

In a complaint forwarded to the UK Gambling Commission, lawyers representing Liam McCarron said that Ladbrokes kept taking bets from their client over a three-year period, even though it should have been obvious to the gambling operator that its customer was a vulnerable person who could not have been gainfully employed due to his physical impairment.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the day’s top casino news stories