Bereaved Mum Backs Calls For Gambling Regulation

4 February 2026
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Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East


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


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


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


The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the main market body, stated the "frustrating bulk" of individuals who bet do so "safely and properly".


'All gone'


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


He likewise enjoyed football, frequently wagering on matches.


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


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


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


Wade said: "He rang 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 money in his account. It was all gone."


She said she now believes he had been sitting 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 boy's death, Wade discovered a variety of emails from gambling companies providing incentives such as funded trips to see his favourite football team.


She said: "I discovered that he had a deal of a 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 really stuck out."


Public health issue


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


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


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


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


It would shift the focus from specific obligation to identifying it as a danger to the wider population as a whole.


Treating it as a public health issue might include actions like higher policy 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 "safely" and "responsibly".


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


The Conservative federal government introduced an evaluation of gaming guideline in 2023.


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


A federal government spokesperson said it was "acutely aware" of the impact harmful gambling can have and said it was "devoted to enhancing defenses to secure those at threat".


It presented the statutory betting levy which it referred to as a "major positive action".


This places an obligatory charge on certified betting operators which will be used to money support and research study into betting dependency.


'Little bit of fun'


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


Chair Charles Ritchie stated most of its members had actually lost someone "really normal, delighted, popular" who had actually "entered into gambling thinking it was a little enjoyable".


"That's what we're all informed and after that when you get into problem you're effectively told it's your fault and households hear that also," he said.


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


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