Bereaved Mum Backs Require Gambling Regulation

4 February 2026
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Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East


A mom whose son took his own life after ending up being addicted to gambling is backing calls from MPs to treat the routine 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 actually taken her several years to comprehend that addiction suggested "the onus wasn't all on him" to stop betting.


The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the primary market body, stated the "overwhelming bulk" of who bet do so "safely and responsibly".


'All gone'


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


He also loved football, often betting on matches.


She said her kid progressively began to ask her for money in 2013.


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


She recalled one occasion when it was his turn to pay for a Friday early morning breakfast he regularly had with buddies.


Wade stated: "He rang me up and asked me if I could transfer some money 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 actually 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 boy's death, Wade found a variety of emails from betting firms using incentives such as funded journeys to see his favourite football team.


She said: "I discovered that he had an offer of a complimentary bet for ₤ 1,000 and I believed we 'd disallowed him from all the websites. There were lots of e-mails however that's the one that truly stuck out."


Public health concern


Wade later met Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Kevin McKenna, who has actually considering that made campaigning on gambling harms a top priority.


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


McKenna stated there had to do with 500 deaths by suicide associated to gambling 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 move the focus from individual duty to identifying it as a risk to the larger population as a whole.


Treating it as a public health concern might consist of actions like higher guideline of betting marketing and removing the most addictive products.


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


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


The Conservative federal government released a review of gaming policy in 2023.


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


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


It presented the statutory gaming levy which it explained as a "significant favorable action".


This positions a mandatory charge on certified betting operators which will be used to fund support and research study into gambling addiction.


'Little 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 gambling laws.


Chair Charles Ritchie said the majority of its members had lost somebody "extremely normal, pleased, popular" who had actually "participated in betting thinking it was a little bit of enjoyable".


"That's what we're all told and then when you enter into problem you're efficiently informed it's your fault and families hear that as well," he stated.


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


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