Bookmaker Paddy Power ‘did not really care’ about problem gambler, UK judge says

The judge made criticisms after Paddy Power bosses were sued by another businessman who wanted to recover money he had advanced to Mr Parente

The judge said Paddy Power continued to accept Mr Parente’s stakes and provided “gambling bonuses and lavish hospitality” to encourage him to gamble more. File Picture: Nigel French/PA

Bookmaker Paddy Power dealt with a compulsive gambler who could not afford what he was spending, but the firm “did not really care”, a High Court judge in the UK has said.

Mr Justice Griffiths said Paddy Power knew from its own monitoring that businessman Tony Parente was “gambling like a problem gambler” and had an “unhealthy and unsustainable gambling addiction on an escalating and desperate” scale.