For self-confessed gambling addict Andrew Rodgerson it must have seemed like the perfect way to make money from his vice. He would be supplied with sure-fire tips from horse-racing insiders who were too well known to place their own bets. All Rodgerson had to do was place the bets when he was told to and the cash would roll in, earning a tidy sum for his clients as well as a wedge for himself.

And roll in they did – until he made the ultimate error. Busy with his day job as a travel agent, the 26-year-old forgot to place a bet. If the horse won, he would owe his customers £55,000 – a scenario so unthinkable that Rodgerson decided he could not risk it happening.