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4 February 2026 ShareSave

Helen CattPolitical Editor, BBC South East

A mom whose child took his own life after ending up being addicted to gambling is backing calls from MPs to deal with the practice as a public health threat.

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

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

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

'All gone'

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

He also enjoyed football, often wagering on matches.

She said her kid significantly began to ask her for cash in 2013.

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

She remembered one event when it was his turn to spend for a Friday early morning breakfast he regularly had with good friends.

Wade stated: "He sounded me up and asked me if I might transfer some money to spend for the breakfast.

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

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

After her boy's death, Wade discovered a number of e-mails from betting firms using rewards such as funded trips to see his preferred football group.

She stated: "I found that he had an offer of a totally free bet for ₤ 1,000 and I believed we 'd disallowed him from all the sites. There were great deals of emails however that's the one that really protruded."

Public health concern

Wade later fulfilled Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Kevin McKenna, who has given that made campaigning on betting damages a concern.

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

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

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

It would shift the focus from private duty to identifying it as a danger to the larger population as a whole.

Treating it as a public health concern could consist of actions like higher policy of betting marketing and getting rid of the most addicting products.

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

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

The Conservative government released a review of gambling regulation in 2023.

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

A government representative stated it was "acutely conscious" of the effect damaging gaming can have and said it was "devoted to enhancing protections to secure those at danger".

It introduced the statutory betting levy which it explained as a "major favorable action".

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

'Little bit of enjoyable'

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

Chair Charles Ritchie stated many of its members had actually lost somebody "extremely normal, happy, popular" who had "entered into gambling thinking it was a little bit of enjoyable".

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

He accused the industry of promoting a story that it is "something incorrect with the individual, a weakness or defect in their character".

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