Sir, – Paddy Power is running ads offering bets on whether Oscar Pistorius "will walk" after his current trial (Breaking News, March 5th). This is very distasteful as a young woman was shot four times and has died. Paddy Power has offered excuses claiming that it's a novelty bet, that it's a bit of fun, that it's the story people will be talking about all year and that it's an international story covered by the media. Will the fate of Michael Schumacher feature in its next publicity stunt? Perhaps it might offer odds on the outcome in Ukraine or the next gangland shooting in Ireland?
I doubt it would consider those “novelty bets” a bit of fun. – Yours, etc,
CONAN DOYLE,
Pococke Lower,
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Kilkenny.