The largest gathering of people who had lost a friend or a member of their families as a result of gambling-related suicide is set to take place in the UK on December 8th. The victims’ families are expected to urge the UK Government to initiate a series of independent investigations into deaths related to the local gambling industry.
According to a study of Public Health England published in September, over 409 English people take their own lives because of problem gambling every year. The study was actually the first time when an official estimate of the gambling industry-related deaths has been unveiled.
One suicide related to gambling addiction also resulted in the establishment of the Gambling with Lives organisation. The charity was created by Liz and Charles Ritchie after Jack, their son, took his own life in 2017 due to gambling addiction. Since then, the Ritchie family has been among the most eager campaigners insisting on stricter measures to be imposed on the sector. It is the Gambling with Lives charity that is organising the December 8th event.
According to research that was carried out by the Ritchies, the annual gambling-related suicides in the UK were between 250 and 650. Mr and Mrs Ritchie have also welcomed the official report that confirmed their estimate showing that hundreds of British people’s lives were lost every year because of gambling.
Only 2 Gambling-Linked Deaths Investigated, Despite There Have Been 2,450 of Them Since 2015
Many of the relatives and friends of people who lost their lives as a result of gambling addiction claim that since the UK gambling legislation was liberalised in 2005, it is almost impossible for a problem gambler to avoid seeing a variety of gambling ads on social media, through promotional emails or on football stadiums across the country.
They also blame the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the body responsible for regulating the local gambling sector and protecting customers from possible gambling-related harm, for not taking a much more stringent approach towards the industry.
Based on the annual estimate of suicides related to gambling addiction that has been provided by Public Health England, there are likely to have been over 2,450 deaths associated with problem gambling in the years since July 2015. According to the charity Gambling with Lives, however, the UKGC has only investigated two of these deaths, despite one of the major licensing objectives of the country’s gambling regulator is customer protection, especially underage and vulnerable individuals, from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Reportedly, the UKGC investigated the deaths of Joshua Jones, who committed suicide in 2015, and Chris Bruney, who killed himself in 2015. The gambling regulator’s probes did not find any gambling company to have breached the country’s gambling laws so that its actions led to Mr Jones’ tragic death. Chris Bruney, on the other hand, took his own life in April 2017 after receiving VIP status from a local gambling platform operated by PT Entertainment Services. The company surrendered its operating licence, so it was not required to pay a financial penalty of £3.5 million but its parent company, Playtech, apologised for any failures and agreed to donate over £5 million to charity in a 5-year period.
Now, the Gambling with Lives organisation is blaming the authorities for doing nothing to prevent such deaths. It is calling for the competent bodies to create a new system for recording deaths involving gambling addiction, as well as an independent inquiry into each of these deaths. Gambling with Lives is also insisting on the implementation of stricter measures to prevent gambling-related harm and future deaths, including a ban on gambling advertising and gambling sponsorship deals in sports; the implementation of a new duty of care for gambling operators; as well as a suspension of all VIP bonus schemes and special promotions for gamblers.
- Author
Daniel Williams
