Bereaved Mum Backs Calls For Gambling Regulation

4 February 2026
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Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East


A mom whose boy took his own life after becoming addicted to betting is backing calls from MPs to treat the habit as a public health risk.


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


She said it had actually taken her numerous years to understand that "the onus wasn't all on him" to stop gambling.


The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the main industry body, stated the "overwhelming majority" of individuals who bet do so "securely and properly".


'All gone'


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


He also liked football, typically banking on matches.


She stated her child progressively started to ask her for cash in 2013.


"I hadn't admitted to myself the amount of money he was asking me for at various times," she stated.


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


Wade said: "He called me up and asked me if I could move some cash to pay for the breakfast.


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


She said she now believes he had been resting 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 seek assistance but, in 2014, he took his own life.


After her child's death, Wade found a number of e-mails from betting firms providing incentives such as financed trips to see his preferred football group.


She said: "I found that he had an offer of a totally free bet for ₤ 1,000 and I believed we 'd barred him from all the websites. There were great deals of e-mails but that's the one that truly stood out."


Public health issue


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


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


McKenna stated there had to do with 500 deaths by suicide related to gambling a year in the country.


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


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


Treating it as a public health issue might consist of actions like greater policy of gambling marketing and removing the most addictive products.


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


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


The Conservative government introduced an evaluation of gambling regulation in 2023.


In 2025, the Gambling Commission gave people the right to more control over the direct marketing they receive from betting firms and presented optimal stakes on online fruit machine.


A government spokesperson stated it was "acutely conscious" of the impact hazardous betting can have and said it was "dedicated to enhancing defenses to protect those at danger".


It presented the statutory betting levy which it explained as a "major favorable step".


This puts a compulsory charge on licensed betting operators which will be utilized to fund assistance and research study into gambling dependency.


'Little fun'


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


Chair Charles Ritchie said many of its members had actually lost someone "very normal, delighted, popular" who had actually "participated in betting believing it was a bit of enjoyable".


"That's what we're all informed and after that when you enter into trouble you're successfully informed it's your fault and households hear that as well," he said.


He accused the industry of promoting a narrative that it is "something incorrect with the person, a weak point or defect in their character".


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