Bereaved Mum Backs Calls For Gambling Regulation

4 February 2026
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Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East


A mom whose child took his own life after ending up being addicted to gaming is backing calls from MPs to treat the habit as a public health danger.


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


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


The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the primary market body, stated the "frustrating majority" of people who gamble do so "securely and responsibly".


'All gone'


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


He likewise loved football, typically wagering on matches.


She said her son increasingly started to ask her for money in 2013.


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


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


Wade stated: "He rang me up and asked me if I could transfer some cash to pay for the breakfast.


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


She stated she now thinks 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 look for assistance but, in 2014, he took his own life.


After her child's death, Wade found a number of emails from betting companies offering rewards such as funded journeys to see his favourite football group.


She stated: "I discovered that he had a deal of a totally free bet for ₤ 1,000 and I believed we 'd barred him from all the websites. There were lots of emails however that's the one that actually protruded."


Public health problem


Wade later on satisfied Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Kevin McKenna, who has actually given that made campaigning on betting harms a top priority.


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


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


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


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


Treating it as a public health problem might consist of actions like higher regulation of betting marketing and getting rid of the most addictive products.


The Betting and Gaming Council stated the "frustrating majority" of the 22.5 million people 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 grownups stated they had a gambling problem.


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


In 2025, the Gambling Commission offered individuals the right to more control over the direct marketing they receive from gambling firms and introduced optimal stakes on online fruit machine.


A government representative stated it was "acutely aware" of the impact hazardous gaming can have and said it was "devoted to reinforcing protections to protect those at danger".


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


This puts a necessary charge on licensed gaming operators which will be used to fund assistance and research study into betting dependency.


'Bit of enjoyable'


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


Chair Charles Ritchie stated most of its members had lost somebody "really typical, happy, popular" who had "entered into betting thinking it was a bit of fun".


"That's what we're all told and then when you enter trouble you're efficiently told it's your fault and families hear that also," he stated.


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


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