10 gambling-related suicides probed

The Gambling Commission is investigating ten suicides with potential links to the betting industry, a leaked letter suggests.

Bosses at the Commission are said to have written to numerous gambling companies asking for "more information" in relation to ten people who took their own lives.

The list of individuals is understood to include ex West Ham and Oxford United footballer Joey Beauchamp, 50, who was found dead by a family member on 19 February.

A coroner investigating his death heard that he had declined help from mental health services in the weeks leading up to his suicide, and had been struggling with gambling.

The Gambling Commission did not respond to requests for a comment. But a spokesman for the Betting and Gaming Council, the industry body for UK betting and gaming, said:

“Any suicide is a terrible tragedy and we are not in any position, nor would it be right, for us to comment on any tragic individual case."

Research published last year suggested that both men and women are at greater risk of suicide if they also struggle with gambling addictions.

The study, published in the Lancet Public Health journal, looked at whether gambling addiction is connected to a greater risk of suicide among 16-24 year olds.

It found that 37 per cent of male respondents who had attempted suicide in the previous year had links with problem gambling. In female respondents, the figure was 14.5 per cent.

A whitepaper setting out reforms to Britain's outdated gambling laws was promised by the UK Government in 2019, but has been delayed several times.

CARE stands alongside other campaigners calling for legislative change to prevent gambling-related harms, including suicide, family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse and homelessness.