Ladbrokes Step-up Safety Measures Following Morden Murder Campaign

Resulting from Sutton Guardian newspaper’s SafeBet Campaign, following the murder of Ladbrokes shop owner in Morden, Ladbrokes have announced new safety measures to be implemented.

The local newspaper initiated the SafeBet campaign, which called for increased safety measures for betting shop workers, after Andrew Iacovou, a man working in the Morden branch of Ladbrokes, was murdered in May of last year.

Iacovou was working alone when he was bludgeoned over the head with a hammer. Although the victim pressed the panic alarm during the attack, CCTV pictures did not pick up the incident and so the Central Security Division did not respond.

Sadly, Iacovou lay dead for more than two hours before being found by a customer.

Security upgrades

The campaign eventually got to the attention of the decision makers within the corridors of Ladbrokes Towers, following wide coverage in both regular and gambling news sources.

With backing from Mr Iacovou’s widow and the Carshalton and Wellington MP Tom Brake, a meeting between the newspaper and Lads bosses was organized. Chris Cerroni, Director of Compliance for Ladbrokes, unveiled a range of new safety measures planned to roll out to all 2,200 stores. They includes more detailed risk-assessments, a new security system that allows officers at the Central Division to speak directly to shop owners via a speaker system, and alarms that will be triggered if the shops computer has not been used for over 45-minutes.

The new features are only to be dished out across Ladbrokes shops, with no other bookmakers joining the discussions; it’s unclear if the sensible measures may make their way into British gambling laws and regulations.

55-year old Shafique Aarij was sentenced to life imprisonment and will serve a minimum of 26-years behind bars.