Apollo Bookmakers & Cool Silk

An insight into the world of high-stakes betting is being offered by a high court case brought by a prominent racehorse owner against a bookmaker over a disputed debt and alleged breach of licence around duty of care.



The claim has been lodged by Peter Swann, one half of the Cool Silk Partnership, which has raced the likes of Prince Of Lir, Summer Sands and Champions Sprint winner Sands Of Mali, against Apollo Bookmakers over gambling debts of nearly £1.65 million.



The figure was run up over a period between 2015 and 2018 after Swann had been introduced to Apollo director Glen Garton at Royal Ascot in 2014 by a mutual acquaintance (who subsequently received a commission on Swann’s losses).



Swann, who was already a regular and large-staking gambler, was offered a credit account by Apollo and frequently placed bets of between £5,000 and £20,000 with the firm, usually via text.



Documents held by Apollo showed Swann paid £3,847,154.09 to the bookmaker during that period for net losses on his gambling, with his claim stating the total amount wagered during that period was “up to around £20 million”.



Swann claims he was only “sporadically” provided with updates on what he owed Apollo and was not keeping his own records. Documents lodged with the court state it “would have been obvious” he had a “gambling problem” and that his “gambling plainly was out of control”.



Swann says he asked for his account to be frozen in February 2018 and on July 8, 2018 emailed Apollo to say: “I know I am a compulsive gambler and I bet on many things, it's a weakness and I think this time I may have gone well beyond my means.



“I should have stopped well within the 400k or so I got to at several stages last year but I found myself chasing losses over that Christmas period and that is where I came unstuck. You can see I have paid millions to you and the well has truly run dry.”



Swann subsequently entered into a settlement agreement with Apollo to pay £400,000 (said to be £420,000 by the bookmaker in its defence to the claim) in instalments, but is arguing the debt is unenforceable as he had not signed a credit agreement with the bookmaker and that it had a duty of care to stop him betting once it became clear he was a problem gambler.



In its defence, Apollo, which ceased to operate in August 2019 having been sold the previous year, outlined Swann and Garton had met in June 2014 and again later the same year in Las Vegas when Garton helped Swann secure a $250,000 credit account with a casino.



When the pair met again in May 2015, Garton had researched Swann and satisfied himself he was an “ultra high net worth individual” (UHNW), while Garton was aware of Swann's punting levels as he had received a commission on his casino losses having acted as an “introducing agent”.



Indeed, Swann, who is in the process of selling his football club, Scunthorpe United, is a wealthy man with interests in property and entertainment venues, while he is also married to Karin Swann, who sold her 50 per cent share in her family’s discount retailer, Wilko, in 2014. Apollo's defence says it had several UHNW clients.



Apollo denied Swann was not provided with, or did not sign, a credit agreement, stating the owner had a £2m limit, and that he was provided with monthly statements, as per industry standards.



Apollo admitted it did not stop Swann betting, but said that his request for his account to be frozen in 2018 was as the result of Swann stating he had a short-term issue with cashflow which was preventing him paying down his debt.



In an email dated April 27, 2018 to Apollo, Swann said he was expecting Scunthorpe United to be sold and that Sands Of Mali had realised £2m after being sold, which would allow him to start paying off what he owed by the summer.



The bookmaker goes on to say Swann continued to bet with other operators after asking for his Apollo account to be frozen, that he made no references to problem gambling before June 2018 and that he should have taken control of his own betting sooner than he did, as “such loss and damage as Mr Swann may have sustained was caused or contributed to by his own fault”.



In a statement posted on Scunthorpe United’s website just before Christmas, Swann said: “Monies which I gambled on various sports (I did not gamble on football) were all my own personal money, and the proceedings were brought because I felt (and still feel) that I needed to take an important stand against a company that I believe exploited and took advantage of me, during a very difficult time in my life.



“Consequently, I will continue to take that stand and prosecute these proceedings accordingly. I ask that the proceedings be respected whilst they are ongoing and being dealt with via the court.”



Swann’s legal action presents an interesting test about where the duty of care lies and how far it extends, with his own views about how it should have been “obvious” he was having challenges with his betting set against Apollo’s defence that it had provided a framework of protection and that Swann held a personal responsibility for his gambling.



With betting set to be in the sights of the UK government once again this year with the white paper into the review of the 2005 Gambling Act finally due to be published, this case could offer some telling pointers about what is expected of both punters and bookmakers.

 

this case could offer some telling pointers about what is expected of both punters and bookmakers.

bookies are using cases such as this as an excuse to unnecessarily profile the everyday punter.

guy spunked a few million, so if joe bloggs wants a fiver on at 9/4 they want to see his bank statements and a signed letter from his employer.

Makes yer wonder how use mere mortals struggle to get more than a £1 on.