UK gambling regulators have spanked one of the country’s lesser known bookmakers for failing to intervene when a customer went on a sustained fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) binge.

On Monday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that Leicester-based bookmaker Mark Jarvis Limited (MJL), which operates a handful of betting shops and an online betting site (MarkJarvisBet.com), had reached a £94k financial settlement for failing to intervene when one of its customers spent £34k on a FOBT in a MJL betting shop over a 19-month period.

The UKGC said the female punter in question was “well known” to staff in her local MJL betting shop and the frequency and duration of her shop visits increased following the 2015 death of her husband. In addition to a five-figure sum spent via her debit card, the customer gambled an additional five-figure sum using money stolen from her employer during the period spanning September 2016 and February 2017.

MJL acknowledged that it had breached the UKGC’s social responsibility code’s regarding customer interactions. Specifically, the company’s staff failed to initiate the appropriate communications with the customer, despite knowing that she was recently widowed and was spending increased time and money at the shop’s machines.