In the words of Daniel’s mum:

Daniel. Cheeky, giggly and full of mischief, little Daniel was like any little boy should be. Happy, safe and loved.

Growing up and into his teens, he had great friends, a good social circle and a keen interest in both playing and following football. He was working towards an HND in Mechanical Engineering at college before he tragically passed.

We now know that Daniel had been gambling online since he was 18 years old. Betting mostly on football. Some considerable wins fairly early on were enough to have him hooked, even though they were always followed by big losses. He was very discreet and managed to keep this secret from his family. A couple of his friends were aware that he did gamble occasionally and raised concerns with him, which were brushed off.

About a month before his death, he broke down. Although he didn’t divulge the full extent of the problem, he did ask his parents for help. It was agreed that they would temporarily take control of his finances, and the betting apps were deleted from his phone. Unfortunately, this was not enough, and Daniel continued to gamble.

Only after Daniel had died did the full extent of his gambling come to light. He had used the ‘STOP’ function to pause activity on several occasions and on several gambling sites, only to be enticed back with free bets.

In the end, Daniel felt too overwhelmed at being unable to break the cycle, and he
took his own life. He was just 20 years old.

Many people form unhealthy “habits” that can be difficult to break. When it comes to gambling, especially, we see many of these young people have tried to stop, only to be targeted until they begin gambling again. The relentless way that gambling websites target people and the predatory tactics they use are coercive. The adverts tell you ‘WHEN THE FUN STOPS- STOP’, but they don’t let you stop.