£2.1m damages claim case gambler jailed for two years

Oct 22 2008 by Jon Tunney, The Journal

A COMPULSIVE gambler who lost more than £2m in a disastrous five-month betting spree has been jailed for two years for drug and firearms offences.

Graham Calvert was caught with an antique handgun, a shotgun and one round of ammunition and a stash of high-purity cocaine when police raided his County Durham home.

Greyhound trainer Calvert claimed that he had the weapons for his own protection after a series of attacks by creditors who loaned him money to fund his gambling.

He said he had the cocaine – which had an estimated street value of more than £2,000 – on the basis he had bought it on behalf of another man, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

Calvert admitted possessing a prohibited weapon, having a firearm without a certificate, possessing cocaine with intent and having a knife as an offensive weapon.

The offences came to light when police went to 29-year-old Calvert’s home at Sedgeletch Farm, Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland in September of last year.

Tom Moran, prosecuting, said: “The defendant, it appears, was a success as a greyhound trainer but going hand-in-hand with greyhound training is gambling.

“While he appears to have had the Midas Touch with greyhound training, this did not cross over into his gambling.

“He was spectacularly unsuccessful as a gambler and would appear to have gambled away jaw-dropping amounts of money.”

In passing sentence, Judge Esmond Faulks said there were exceptional circumstances in Calvert’s case which justified him not imposing an otherwise mandatory five-year jail term for gun possession.

He said that the handgun that had been found at Calvert’s home was more than 100 years old and was, therefore, classified as an antique which would have been legal if kept as an ornament and the ammunition for it no longer manufactured.

Judge Faulks also told Calvert: “I further accept that you had prior to obtaining that gun not just been threatened by people to whom you owed money but physically attacked and injured by them.”

Calvert hit the national headlines earlier this year when he sued William Hill in the High Court for £2.1m damages – money he claimed he lost through gambling between June and December 2006.

He claimed that the company had allowed him to place bets when he had twice asked them to close his account under a self-exclusion scheme designed to protect problem or pathological gamblers.

But a judge ruled William Hill – which denied liability – did not have to award damages despite finding the company had failed in its duty of care.

Calvert appealed against the decision and is currently awaiting the outcome of a hearing in the Appeal Court.