Bereaved Mum Backs Calls For Gambling Regulation

4 February 2026
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Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East


A mother whose son took his own life after becoming addicted to gaming is backing calls from MPs to treat the routine as a public health risk.


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


She stated it had actually taken her numerous years to comprehend that dependency indicated "the onus wasn't all on him" to stop betting.


The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the primary industry body, stated the "overwhelming bulk" of people who gamble do so "safely and properly".


'All gone'


Armstrong, who worked as a scaffolder, played in a swimming pool league and was a keen golfer.


He also liked football, frequently banking on matches.


She stated her son increasingly began to ask her for cash in 2013.


"I had not confessed to myself the quantity of money he was asking me for at various times," she stated.


She recalled one celebration when it was his turn to spend for a Friday morning breakfast he frequently had with buddies.


Wade said: "He called me up and asked me if I might 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 been resting on the scaffolding, betting on his phone.


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


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


After her son's death, Wade discovered a number of emails from gambling companies providing incentives such as funded trips to see his preferred football group.


She stated: "I discovered that he had a deal of a complimentary bet for ₤ 1,000 and I believed we 'd disallowed him from all the websites. There were great deals of emails however that's the one that really protruded."


Public health issue


Wade later on met Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Kevin McKenna, who has actually because made campaigning on gambling damages a concern.


He is now one of a variety of MPs, consisting of Worthing West's Dr Beccy Cooper, who are marketing for a modification in how society - and the government - techniques gambling.


McKenna said there were about 500 deaths by suicide associated to gambling a year in the country.


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


It would shift the focus from individual responsibility to identifying it as a risk to the larger population as a whole.


Treating it as a public health concern could consist of actions like higher regulation of betting marketing and removing the most addicting products.


The Betting and Gaming Council said the "overwhelming bulk" of the 22.5 million people who wager in Britain did so "securely" and "properly".


According to a Gambling Commission report in 2024, Gambling Survey for Great Britain, 2.7% of grownups stated they had a betting issue.


The Conservative federal government introduced a review of gambling policy in 2023.


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


A federal government representative stated it was "acutely mindful" of the impact damaging gaming can have and said it was "devoted to strengthening defenses to secure those at risk".


It presented the statutory gambling levy which it referred to as a "major favorable step".


This puts a mandatory charge on licensed betting operators which will be used to money support and research into gambling addiction.


'Little bit of enjoyable'


Wade is now part of Gambling With Lives, a group formed by other bereaved parents that provides support to families, and projects to reform gambling laws.


Chair Charles Ritchie stated many of its members had lost somebody "very regular, happy, popular" who had "participated in betting believing it was a little bit of enjoyable".


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


He accused the market of promoting a story that it is "something wrong with the individual, a weak point or flaw in their character".


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