Bookmaker Paddy Power has withdrawn a controversial bet which would have paid out if new US President Barack Obama was assassinated during his first term in office.

The bookmaker had been offering odds of 12-1 that the President-elect would not complete his first term in office for whatever reason, even if he was killed by an assassin.

The bet prompted a flood of complaints from the DUP and victims campaigner Willie Frazer who called for it to be withdrawn for being in poor taste. Last night the bet was taken off Paddy Power’s website”.

The bet would have paid out if “Barack Obama did not complete his first term in office”, but is no longer being offered.

It is understood that the bookmaker will honour existing bets for punters who wagered that Mr Obama would not complete his first four-year term but new clients will be unable to get odds on that eventuality.

Instead Paddy Power is offering three Obama “First Term Specials” to both online punters and clients who walk into their High Street shops in Ireland and the UK. Yesterday it was offering 10-1 odds that Obama would become a father again during his first term, 28-1 that he would resign during his first four years and 33-1 that he would be impeached.