Wayne Rooney told: 'Your dad’s been nicked’ - England star stunned at £100,000 bet swoop
Posted Friday, October 07, 2011 by The Sun
Motherwell v Hearts ... moment Steve Jennings is sent off in the SPL match on 14 December 2010
A professional gambler told The Sun:
Because of the type of bet this was, I expect the hope would have been to trouser about 100 grand.
There were very strong vibes that people were queueing up trying to get money on someone being given their marching orders in that game. A lot of the talk was about new accounts being opened at bookies with only one bet in mind.
Originally odds of 10/1 were being offered in some quarters but that came down to around 5/1 as the action kicked in.
Another feature was that even though the odds were shortening all the time, people were still desperate to get on.
Most of the punts would have been fairly small, say around £40, so as not to set the alarm bells ringing.
Following the December match, the Association of British Bookmakers signalled their worries to the Gambling Commission, who called in cops. An industry source said: "We began to see a higher than usual amount of traffic for a bet like that. A pattern appeared to be developing so we flagged up our anxieties."
Checks may now be made on CCTV footage from the interior of betting shops on Merseyside.
The technology permits punters to be photographed as they place certain bets, allowing gamblers and their wagers to be traced.
Bookies also keep in touch with each other about betting patterns perceived as "dodgy". Alan Alger, of Blue Square, said: "We discussed the Motherwell red card market with another bookmaker and they reported suspicious activity.
"They asked us to have a look at what we'd taken on the match.
"Although we didn't actually notice it in the normal course of our day, when we revisited the market it was pretty clear there had been some suspicious activity.
"What we mean by that is new accounts opening up and trying to back a specific outcome."
Last night a solicitor representing Wayne Snr, said the dad "vigorously denies all of these allegations". The lawyer added: "We are co-operating fully with the investigation."
Rooney's uncle refused to discuss his arrest after he was driven home by a pal. When asked if he had anything to say, he just shook his head.
Earlier a male relative insisted the uncle was innocent.
Speaking at the family semi, he said: "He doesn't know anything about it. He has been released."
Neither Rooney nor wife Coleen made any mention of the arrests on social networking websites.
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