Judge finds private betting operation amounted to a business under the Gambling Act, but rules debts remain enforceable, dismissing claims of illegality and a ‘fictitious’ offshore bookmaker.
In a judgment handed down in London on 20 March, a High Court judge has lifted the lid on what he described as the “world of unlicensed betting”, a milieu of informal wagers, trusted intermediaries and long, fancy lunches, in a claim brought by a private gambler against one of his regular clients. In what was less a judgment of Solomon and more a judgment for Solomon, the court ultimately ordered Alan Spence to pay more than £841,000 to Alan Solomon, rejecting arguments that the debts were unenforceable because Mr Solomon had been…