Bereaved Mum Backs Calls For Gambling Regulation: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

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4 February 2026
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Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East


A mother whose son took his own life after ending up being addicted to gaming is backing calls from MPs to deal with the habit as a public health danger.


Lesley Wade, from Minster on the Isle of Sheppey, lost her "family orientated" and "enjoyable" boy Aaron Armstrong aged 30 in 2014.


She said it had taken her several years to comprehend that dependency meant "the onus wasn't all on him" to stop .


The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the main industry body, said the "overwhelming bulk" of people who gamble do so "securely and properly".


'All gone'


Armstrong, who worked as a scaffolder, played in a pool league and was a keen golf enthusiast.


He also enjoyed football, often wagering on matches.


She said her boy increasingly began to ask her for cash in 2013.


"I hadn't confessed to myself the amount of cash he was asking me for at different times," she said.


She remembered one event when it was his turn to pay for a Friday morning breakfast he routinely had with pals.


Wade stated: "He sounded me up and asked me if I could transfer some money to spend for the breakfast.


"He 'd just been paid that early morning and he had no money in his account. It was all gone."


She stated she now thinks he had actually been sitting on the scaffolding, gambling on his phone.


Armstrong's relationship with his partner broke down and he was asked to leave his flat.


The scaffolder went on to look for help however, in 2014, he took his own life.


After her son's death, Wade found a number of e-mails from betting companies using rewards such as financed journeys to see his preferred football team.


She said: "I discovered that he had an offer of a complimentary bet for ₤ 1,000 and I thought we 'd disallowed him from all the websites. There were lots of emails however that's the one that actually stood out."


Public health problem


Wade later fulfilled Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Kevin McKenna, who has actually considering that made marketing on gambling damages a priority.


He is now among a variety of MPs, consisting of Worthing West's Dr Beccy Cooper, who are campaigning for a change in how society - and the federal government - approaches betting.


McKenna said there had to do with 500 deaths by suicide associated to betting a year in the country.


"If it was anything else we 'd be looking at it as a public health problem," he included.


It would shift the focus from private obligation to acknowledging it as a risk to the broader population as a whole.


Treating it as a public health problem could consist of actions like higher regulation of gambling marketing and eliminating the most addictive items.


The Betting and Gaming Council said the "frustrating bulk" of the 22.5 million individuals who wager in Britain did so "safely" and "responsibly".


According to a Gaming Commission report in 2024, Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2.7% of adults said they had a betting problem.


The Conservative government released a review of gaming guideline in 2023.


In 2025, the Gambling Commission gave individuals the right to more control over the direct marketing they get from betting companies and introduced maximum stakes on online slots.


A federal government spokesperson said it was "acutely mindful" of the effect harmful gambling can have and stated it was "devoted to reinforcing securities to secure those at threat".


It introduced the statutory gaming levy which it referred to as a "major favorable action".


This positions an obligatory charge on certified betting operators which will be used to fund support and research study into gambling dependency.


'Little enjoyable'


Wade is now part of Gambling With Lives, a group formed by other bereaved moms and dads that provides assistance to households, and projects to reform betting laws.


Chair Charles Ritchie said many of its members had lost somebody "really normal, pleased, popular" who had "entered into betting thinking it was a bit of fun".


"That's what we're all told and after that when you enter into trouble you're effectively informed it's your fault and families hear that too," he said.


He implicated the industry of promoting a narrative that it is "something wrong with the individual, a weakness or flaw in their character".


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