:00:11. > :00:17.Tonight on Panorama: Has the proliferation of gambling brought
:00:17. > :00:20.misery to increasing numbers of problem gamblers? They were aware
:00:20. > :00:23.that I had an obvious gambling problem, yet I was allowed to sit
:00:23. > :00:28.there and spend as much money as possible. This personal banking
:00:28. > :00:31.manager gambled a fortune he didn't have. The debt through gambling,
:00:31. > :00:36.including what I stole, you are looking at best part of nearly
:00:36. > :00:41.�300,000. �300,000? Yeah. Could the industry's most profitable machines
:00:41. > :00:44.be turning ordinary gamblers into addicts? It was like the Formula 1
:00:44. > :00:47.of fruit machines. It is a quicker fix.
:00:47. > :00:54.With undercover filming and industry whistle blowers, we ask if
:00:54. > :00:57.these machines could be a cause of crime and disorder.
:00:57. > :01:07.They are just kicking the screen, smashing it, trying to tip it over.
:01:07. > :01:14.
:01:14. > :01:18.Since the Gambling Act came in five years ago, our society has been
:01:18. > :01:24.changing. Gambling is now enjoyed by around three quarters of the
:01:24. > :01:27.population, more people than ever before. There are more betting
:01:27. > :01:35.shops on our high streets, more adverts on our TVs, celebrity
:01:35. > :01:40.endorsements and sponsorship deals. And new platforms have brought 24
:01:40. > :01:43.hour gambling into our homes, and to our finger tips. Even in the
:01:43. > :01:53.recession, it is still profitable, with takings of �5.6 billion last
:01:53. > :01:59.year. One particular machine is generating a quarter of those
:01:59. > :02:02.takings. It is the fixed odds betting terminal or FOBT, which
:02:02. > :02:07.brings casino games like roulette and blackjack to your local bookies.
:02:07. > :02:14.Just tell me about this machine. You have the fixed odds betting
:02:14. > :02:17.terminal. Basically, here you have the main menu. Former Tote Sport
:02:17. > :02:20.machines department manager Adrian Parkinson showed me how they work.
:02:20. > :02:24.You can start staking on the board. There are almost 34,000 FOBT
:02:24. > :02:29.machines in our bookies. They have been branded the crack cocaine of
:02:29. > :02:39.gambling by industry insiders. I've won some money! So, are these
:02:39. > :02:40.
:02:40. > :02:44.machines turning people into For me personally, the first day I
:02:44. > :02:50.placed money in a FOBT machine was the day my life was going to change
:02:50. > :02:53.for the worse. I had been introduced to a new style of
:02:53. > :02:59.gambling that to this day is still destroying my life, and one day
:02:59. > :03:04.could aid the ending of my life. This man is too ashamed of his
:03:04. > :03:10.family finding out about his gambling to be filmed openly.
:03:10. > :03:14.just seemed like a new exciting thing had entered the bookies. It
:03:14. > :03:20.was the speed of it. It is happening every 10 or 15 seconds.
:03:20. > :03:24.You've got that adrenaline rush. It is a quicker fix.
:03:24. > :03:30.A unique feature of the FOBT is the high amounts you can stake, as much
:03:30. > :03:34.as �100 every 20 seconds. And the speed of play means there is very
:03:34. > :03:38.little cool down time to allow you to stop and reflect on how much you
:03:38. > :03:43.are spending. Once you've lost your 20, you start
:03:43. > :03:48.putting another 20 in to try and win your 20 back. And it got to a
:03:48. > :03:53.point where it was going up to �200 a day. My biggest loss was �620
:03:53. > :03:59.which lasted about 20 minutes. I just wanted to go and get a golf
:03:59. > :04:02.club and go back down and smash the machine up.
:04:02. > :04:06.We went undercover in high street bookies in London and Birmingham,
:04:06. > :04:11.where local police figures showed betting shop crime was up. We
:04:11. > :04:17.wanted to see if FOBT machines were causing violence and aggression. We
:04:17. > :04:27.visited 37 shops and filmed 26 outbursts of FOBT rage. We had been
:04:27. > :04:29.
:04:29. > :04:36.in this shop less than five minutes I've lost bloody �300. I hurt.
:04:36. > :04:41.what? So what? Do you want me to pull the machine down? You can do
:04:41. > :04:45.what you want. People losing money, it hurts. Yeah. You're not the only
:04:45. > :04:52.person. A key licensing objective set out in the Gambling Act is to
:04:52. > :04:54.prevent gambling from being a source of crime and disorder. BEEP.
:04:54. > :04:59.We interviewed betting shop managers from leading high street
:04:59. > :05:02.bookies William Hill, Ladbrokes and Betfred. With between 20 and 35
:05:02. > :05:10.years experience each as managers, they all said FOBTs have increased
:05:10. > :05:16.aggression, violence and criminal damage. Worried about their jobs,
:05:16. > :05:22.we have used actors to say their words. People just go berserk. They
:05:22. > :05:25.just kick in the screens, smashing it. Trying to tip it over. They are
:05:25. > :05:32.picking up chairs, stools to throw at it, simply because they have
:05:32. > :05:35.lost their money. We had somebody come up with a
:05:35. > :05:39.pickaxe to smash the machine because they said we robbed his
:05:39. > :05:44.money. It is frightening. The most disgusting thing is when people
:05:44. > :05:48.spit on the machines. Some of these people are almost frothing at the
:05:48. > :05:54.mouth. Available police statistics across Britain show crimes of
:05:54. > :06:03.violence in betting shops rose by 9% between 2008 and 2011. Yet
:06:03. > :06:06.criminal damage reports almost halved. BEEP! Our industry insiders
:06:06. > :06:11.claim that is because many acts of criminal damage are simply not
:06:11. > :06:17.being reported to the police. Betfred encourage you to report it
:06:17. > :06:19.on their system rather than go to the police. The staff feel unhappy
:06:19. > :06:22.at Ladbrokes because what they feel is criminal behaviour or potential
:06:22. > :06:27.criminal offences are not being taken as seriously as they should
:06:27. > :06:32.by the Ladbrokes management. And we have obtained a copy of
:06:32. > :06:35.instructions to William Hill staff agreed with the police. It says
:06:35. > :06:37.incidents of criminal damage to FOBT machines are not to be
:06:37. > :06:44.reported to police unless the member of staff knows the
:06:44. > :06:48.perpetrator by name and where they live or work. It is my opinion that
:06:48. > :06:52.they do not want us to report these acts of damage because they are
:06:52. > :06:57.trying to cover up a problem. All three firms told us they take
:06:58. > :07:07.staff safety and antisocial behaviour extremely seriously.
:07:08. > :07:11.
:07:11. > :07:21.William Hill said any suggestion that it covers up violence or
:07:21. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:29.permits illegal activity is Meanwhile, my lucky streak had come
:07:30. > :07:33.to an end. No, just missed it. is cruel, isn't it? I won on the
:07:33. > :07:36.first go. Only 4% of gamblers play FOBT
:07:36. > :07:38.machines but the betting shop managers we spoke to say they
:07:38. > :07:48.believe the machines can turn normal customers into problem
:07:48. > :07:49.
:07:49. > :07:52.gamblers. �7.20! I won! I can see how you get
:07:53. > :07:58.sucked in because now I have doubled my money, I want to keep
:07:58. > :08:01.going. The machines have caused an increase in problem gamblers,
:08:01. > :08:04.without a doubt. It's like a drug. I would say it is
:08:04. > :08:08.like a drug. They obviously need to use the
:08:08. > :08:15.toilet at some point, but they just seem to sit there. Sometimes people
:08:15. > :08:19.have sat there and wet themselves. I met a former machines department
:08:19. > :08:22.manager with 15 years' experience at senior level. He believes the
:08:22. > :08:25.addictive nature of FOBT machines is well known within the industry.
:08:25. > :08:28.After FOBT machines were introduced to betting shops, the number of
:08:28. > :08:30.problem gamblers mushroomed. That feedback would have been
:08:30. > :08:34.experienced by most of senior management and certainly filtered
:08:35. > :08:41.through to executive management. says even staff were vulnerable to
:08:41. > :08:45.the machines. I set up a training programme to show shop staff how to
:08:45. > :08:48.play the games on the FOBTs. There was a marked increase in staff
:08:48. > :08:51.gambling. Some, when caught, claimed they had developed an
:08:51. > :08:55.addiction to roulette. They were provided with support and
:08:55. > :09:03.counselling to keep the problem internal.
:09:03. > :09:08.I took his claims to the Association of British Bookmakers.
:09:08. > :09:12.We have spoken to a former manager and he said to be trained staff to
:09:12. > :09:21.use them and they had staff that became addicted and they ended up
:09:21. > :09:24.having to give them cancelling -- counselling! I am surprised to hear
:09:24. > :09:27.that because at the end of the day, there is no empirical evidence
:09:28. > :09:31.linking machines to addiction. We really care about this issue and we
:09:31. > :09:33.do make sure that the vulnerable are protected. More than eight
:09:33. > :09:36.million customers use our shops safely and responsibly day in day
:09:36. > :09:38.out. When the Labour Government
:09:38. > :09:41.introduced the Gambling Act, assurances were made to parliament
:09:41. > :09:46.that the proliferation of gambling would not lead to an increase in
:09:46. > :09:52.problem gambling. We have one of the lowest rates of problem
:09:52. > :09:54.gambling in the world and we intend to keep it that way. To monitor our
:09:54. > :09:59.gambling habits, the Government started funding the British
:09:59. > :10:04.Gambling Prevalence Survey. Two years ago, it found that there were
:10:04. > :10:11.451,000 problem gamblers in Britain. That is up 50 % on its findings in
:10:11. > :10:15.2007. Researchers say that could just have been a temporary blip.
:10:15. > :10:18.The next survey which would have told us whether or not it was a
:10:18. > :10:22.blip should have been starting about now, but it is not, because
:10:22. > :10:27.the government has cut all its funding.
:10:27. > :10:33.That decision has been criticised by some experts. How are we going
:10:33. > :10:37.to carry on finding out whether this increase is an upward trend,
:10:37. > :10:42.went there is not going to be a survey? Where will the evidence
:10:42. > :10:47.comes from? Britain is one of the only
:10:47. > :10:53.countries in Europe where children can bet legally on fruit machines.
:10:53. > :10:56.Luke Simpson first gambled as a child in seaside amusement arcades.
:10:56. > :11:06.Now 20, he is trying to kick the gambling habit but finds temptation
:11:06. > :11:06.
:11:06. > :11:10.everywhere. We are in the city centre of Norwich.
:11:10. > :11:14.In a big city like this, you know, there is a lot of bookies, places
:11:14. > :11:17.what sell scratch cards. That is Coral over there, Ladbrokes there.
:11:17. > :11:21.On this side, you have got another betting shop there. There is a
:11:21. > :11:25.Betfreds, a couple of William Hills, and it's not good for someone like
:11:25. > :11:28.me, you know what I mean? Too much temptation!
:11:28. > :11:31.Last year, Luke voluntarily excluded himself from all the
:11:31. > :11:38.bookies in his home town to keep himself away from FOBT machines.
:11:38. > :11:43.Now it is scratch cards he can't resist. This is one of the main
:11:43. > :11:48.shops I come to to buy scratchcards and, like, or waste my money, which
:11:48. > :11:52.is not very good. Just seeing the different scratchcards and the
:11:52. > :11:56.different colours, I would be tempted to buy one. The most I have
:11:56. > :12:03.ever spent in one session is 500 quid. Which I feel stupid about
:12:03. > :12:09.false --. Luke lives in a supported housing
:12:09. > :12:12.unit just outside Norwich. This is my bedroom! He has Asperger's
:12:12. > :12:15.syndrome, is out of work, several hundred pounds in debt, and is
:12:15. > :12:24.being treated for depression and anxiety.
:12:24. > :12:33.I've got to take my Amoxapine. The Fluoxetine. That is my anti-
:12:33. > :12:37.depressant which keeps be balanced. When I have been losing money
:12:37. > :12:42.gambling, my mood suddenly changes and I tried to stay positive
:12:42. > :12:47.because that helps the medication to work for. We know that gambling
:12:47. > :12:50.can be addictive, it is a mental health problem. People develop such
:12:50. > :12:57.a strong habit that they find gambolling very difficult to give
:12:57. > :13:02.up. It is an insidious disorder. It begins in a small way and builds up
:13:02. > :13:07.to the point at which people can be totally preoccupied with it. It
:13:07. > :13:09.takes over people's thoughts! We've already got the wow factor!
:13:09. > :13:11.Most gambling ads are restricted to after the 9pm watershed although
:13:11. > :13:19.lotteries, bingo and pre-watershed sporting events like football
:13:19. > :13:23.internationals are exempt. I have got an addiction and, you know, I
:13:23. > :13:31.am trying to get away from it but seeing these adverts does not make
:13:31. > :13:37.it easy. Like, you switch on the TV and boom! Adverts should not be
:13:37. > :13:41.designed to appeal to a young audience. Yet the many celebrity
:13:42. > :13:48.endorsements and sponsorship deals with sports stars must surely be
:13:48. > :13:51.having an impact. One of the licensing objectives of
:13:51. > :14:00.the Gambling Act is to protect children and the vulnerable from
:14:00. > :14:08.exploitation. Is that nice? what exactly do they mean by
:14:08. > :14:14.vulnerable? This is a picture of Ethan. It's my beautiful baby. He
:14:14. > :14:18.was 13 months when I lost him. Keelin Carroll's son Ethan was born
:14:18. > :14:22.with a condition leaving him in need of a double transplant. But a
:14:22. > :14:32.donor could not be found in time. His death left Keelin unable to
:14:32. > :14:33.
:14:33. > :14:38.cope. I just didn't want to have to bury my son. It was very difficult
:14:38. > :14:41.and I was extremely vulnerable and that is where gambling came in.
:14:41. > :14:45.Keelin had been coming here on Sunday nights to play bingo with
:14:45. > :14:50.her mum for years. But after Ethan's death, she started staying
:14:50. > :15:00.on after the bingo to play the slot machines. She hasn't been back for
:15:00. > :15:05.
:15:05. > :15:14.I am a little bit nervous because I spent a lot of time here. I am a
:15:15. > :15:21.little bit shaky to be back. Just hearing the sound of the machines
:15:21. > :15:26.is nerve-racking. Keelin says she was well known to staff. At her
:15:26. > :15:30.lowest, she said she was spending �100 a time up the slot machines.
:15:30. > :15:36.My addiction was very obvious to these people because I would be the
:15:36. > :15:40.last one up. They were aware that I had lost my son. They were aware
:15:40. > :15:47.that I had emotional trauma and an opera is gambling problem. Yet I
:15:47. > :15:50.was allowed to sit there and spend as much money as possible.
:15:50. > :15:55.Gambling Commission's code of practice requires that licensees
:15:55. > :15:58.put into effect policies and procedures for customer interaction
:15:58. > :16:03.where they have concerns that a customer's behaviour may indicate
:16:03. > :16:08.problem gambling. According to Keelin that did not happen. I did
:16:08. > :16:13.have a few times when I broke down and I was crying, really upset. It
:16:13. > :16:20.was visually obvious that I had issues and not one person ever came
:16:20. > :16:30.to me and said, this is the help out there if you want to take it.
:16:30. > :16:43.
:16:43. > :16:48.Keelin says that those playing the slot machines were given free
:16:48. > :16:51.snacks and soft drinks. They did not want you to leave the machines,
:16:51. > :16:57.so they make sure you were fed and watered to make sure that you
:16:57. > :17:00.stayed and did not leave. Mecca Bingo says that the free snacks and
:17:00. > :17:05.soft drinks are a convenient customer-service and certainly not
:17:05. > :17:07.intended to encourage people to play longer. They also said it is
:17:07. > :17:17.extremely common for problem gambler to blame anyone but
:17:17. > :17:21.themselves for their plight. Under the Gambling Commission's code of
:17:21. > :17:24.practice, staff should be trained to approach customers that they
:17:24. > :17:29.suspect of problem gambling. But the betting shop managers that we
:17:29. > :17:33.spoke to, despite having decades of experience, told us they felt
:17:33. > :17:36.inadequate for the task. We are not really able to deal with them in a
:17:36. > :17:40.way that they deserve. We are not trained counsellors, just everyday
:17:40. > :17:44.people with this thrust upon us. Rather than approach somebody and
:17:44. > :17:49.get a torrent of abuse or have somebody breaking down in front of
:17:49. > :17:54.you, we tend not to approach the customers. All of the firms said
:17:54. > :17:57.they took their duty of care towards problem gamblers seriously.
:17:57. > :18:03.William Hill told us it was at the forefront of industry efforts to
:18:03. > :18:08.combat problem gambling and had worked with GamCare on a training
:18:08. > :18:11.programme to further educate staff this year. Betfred said it is
:18:11. > :18:15.important that our staff should feel confident in addressing these
:18:15. > :18:24.issues and that it will be reviewing its training in light of
:18:25. > :18:29.So does the industry regulator, the Gambling Commission, think that
:18:29. > :18:32.training is adequate given what the managers have told us? We think
:18:32. > :18:37.more needs to be done in that area and we are working to make sure
:18:37. > :18:40.more is done. It is clearly the responsibility of businesses,
:18:40. > :18:44.through their staff, to identify problem gamblers and that is part
:18:44. > :18:48.of the work we are doing. managers tell us they do not feel
:18:48. > :18:52.adequately trained by their companies to identify problem
:18:53. > :18:59.gamblers and deal with them. want staff to be adequately trained,
:18:59. > :19:04.and where that is not happening, we absolutely want it to happen.
:19:04. > :19:09.if we could gamble as much money as we like, 24 hours a day, in the
:19:09. > :19:17.privacy of our own home? The rapid expansion in virtual betting shops
:19:17. > :19:21.and casinos means that we now have the freedom to do just that.
:19:21. > :19:26.Jonathan used to be a personal banking manager. Married with kids,
:19:26. > :19:33.he was the epitome of respectability. But is certain a
:19:34. > :19:37.diction to online gambling led him to prison. -- his hidden addiction.
:19:38. > :19:42.You got these literally after coming out of prison? I came out in
:19:42. > :19:51.June, so probably seven weeks after that. I spent eight months inside,
:19:51. > :19:58.which was hard. I have got attack. How did a man who worked in banking,
:19:58. > :20:03.a school governor, a cub scout leader, end up in prison? Through
:20:03. > :20:08.gambling addiction. That is the simple answer. A predominantly
:20:08. > :20:13.started playing poker. I am pretty good at maths. I did all right. But
:20:13. > :20:17.they opened up the online casino slot machines. I played a
:20:17. > :20:23.tournament one night and won nearly $3,000. I gambled it all away in
:20:23. > :20:28.about 10 minutes on the online slot machines trying to win more.
:20:28. > :20:34.much debt did you actually get into through gambling? The debt through
:20:34. > :20:41.gambling including what I stole, the best part of �300,000.
:20:41. > :20:47.�300,000? I have gambled that the way, yes. If you are susceptible,
:20:47. > :20:50.vulnerable individual, the research tends to show that because of the
:20:50. > :20:55.24 hours convenience of gambling online, those people are at greater
:20:55. > :20:58.risk. They are at greater risk with electronic cash because it lowers
:20:58. > :21:04.the psychological value of the money. You know how much you have
:21:04. > :21:07.lost but it does not feel the same as playing with physical cash.
:21:07. > :21:12.Jonathan's gambling debts began to exceed the limit of what he could
:21:12. > :21:17.borrow, he stole from his clients. I took an amount of money from one
:21:17. > :21:22.of my clients. I expected to get caught. It was a horrible feeling.
:21:22. > :21:27.I expected to be caught right away. But I did not get caught. You knew
:21:27. > :21:32.that was wrong, didn't you? You do know, you know it is wrong, and I
:21:32. > :21:39.wish I had been caught the first time I did it. But I was not caught
:21:39. > :21:45.them. I got myself in a worse situation. You would literally Dion
:21:45. > :21:52.Dublin sitting on the sofa watching television? Absolutely. -- knew
:21:52. > :21:57.would literally do your gambling sitting on the sofa. He believes
:21:57. > :22:00.they have the information to cat problem gamblers like him. You can
:22:00. > :22:05.look at spending habits and the know if a person is getting into
:22:05. > :22:09.financial difficulties. They must be able to look at the betting
:22:09. > :22:13.activity and know if somebody is losing money. Every operator knows
:22:14. > :22:18.what people of up to online. They have every click monitored. They
:22:18. > :22:21.know the favourite games and how much they are spending. I think it
:22:21. > :22:25.is socially irresponsible to make money from problem gamblers. With
:22:25. > :22:31.tracking technology online, we have the technology that can pinpoint
:22:31. > :22:35.the people with potential problems. The Remote Gambling Association has
:22:35. > :22:39.told us that research is under way to see if online data can be used
:22:39. > :22:46.to identify not just problem gamblers but also those that might
:22:46. > :22:50.be at risk of becoming problem gamblers. So what help is out there
:22:50. > :22:56.for gamblers who realise they are in trouble? Remember our gambler
:22:56. > :23:00.too ashamed to be filmed openly? He lost his job. He is not yet 40 but
:23:00. > :23:08.he has had a heart attack. I have already lost my partner. I have not
:23:08. > :23:16.got much left to lose. He has given up FOBT machines but now lives as a
:23:16. > :23:20.virtual recluse gambling online. some point I felt suicidal. At his
:23:20. > :23:25.lowest ebb, he went to his GP about his gambling and was prescribed
:23:25. > :23:30.anti-depressants and referred to a psychiatrist. I visited the
:23:30. > :23:35.psychiatrist on three occasions. But the psychiatrist that I was
:23:35. > :23:44.seeing had no clue whatsoever about people with gambling addictions. I
:23:44. > :23:54.did not feel it was working and so I stopped going. You know, I am at
:23:54. > :23:55.
:23:55. > :23:59.rock bottom again. You have, I am giving up trying. -- you know.
:23:59. > :24:03.There is a national helpline for gamblers one by the charity GamCare.
:24:03. > :24:07.It also provides face-to-face counselling across most of Britain.
:24:07. > :24:12.There is currently just one NHS problem gambling clinic for the
:24:13. > :24:16.whole of the UK. We know that there are over 200 gamblers Anonymous
:24:16. > :24:21.groups and 50,000 people running the GamCare helpline. We know that
:24:21. > :24:25.is just the tip of the iceberg. But if somebody comes in with a
:24:25. > :24:33.gambling problem, most GPs do not know what to do. I think not enough
:24:34. > :24:37.money is put into treatment and research and education.
:24:37. > :24:45.Government does not recognise gambling addiction as a public
:24:45. > :24:48.health issue, and like alcohol and drugs. That means there is no
:24:48. > :24:53.Government funding for research and treatment. Instead money to help
:24:53. > :24:57.gamblers comes from the industry itself, a voluntary donation. It is
:24:57. > :25:03.�5 million a year, which last year amounted to just 0.1% of the
:25:03. > :25:07.industry's takings. And betting shop industry profits seemed set to
:25:07. > :25:12.continue this year. Over-the- counter bets are static, but
:25:12. > :25:20.machines and online profits are up. That comes as no surprise to are
:25:20. > :25:26.betting shop managers. The profit in might shop last year of the FOBT
:25:26. > :25:31.machines was in excess of half a million pounds. That is quite a lot
:25:31. > :25:36.of money across the William Hill shops across the country. 92% of
:25:36. > :25:40.gamblers do so without any issues, but it is inevitable that some of
:25:40. > :25:45.the industry's profits come from problem gamblers. Experts have
:25:45. > :25:50.tried to work out just how much. think may be �150 million is being
:25:50. > :25:54.taken annually from people with gambling problems. On one hand they
:25:54. > :25:58.are taking 150 million and on the other they are giving 5 million
:25:58. > :26:04.back for research and treatment. That seems to be nothing short of
:26:04. > :26:08.the scandal. How uncomfortable do you feel about the tiny amount of
:26:08. > :26:11.money that is given to research and treatment for problem gambling?
:26:11. > :26:17.have got to remember that the vast majority of our customers do not
:26:17. > :26:25.have any problems and they do act responsibly and Sophie. Having said
:26:25. > :26:28.that, one problem gambler is one too many. -- responsibly and safely.
:26:29. > :26:31.We encourage people to give donations even though times are
:26:31. > :26:37.tough and many charitable organisations would not exist
:26:37. > :26:40.without donations from our members. Gambling falls under the remit of
:26:40. > :26:46.the Department of Culture Media and Sport. While it has the power to
:26:46. > :26:48.force industry to raise more funds, it has never used it. The
:26:48. > :26:52.department told us that the commitments of the gambling
:26:52. > :26:56.industry towards the costs of treatment and research into problem
:26:56. > :27:03.gambling are sufficient. They said they are content with the current
:27:03. > :27:08.voluntary approach. I believe that the Government has got itself in a
:27:08. > :27:13.difficult position where it is in a way complicit with its profits
:27:13. > :27:18.being made by the industry and the increasing prevalence of problem
:27:18. > :27:22.gambling. Their argument has been that this is just a business
:27:22. > :27:28.opportunity. If there is research to be done, treatment to be given,
:27:28. > :27:34.then we should align ourselves with the industry. While he cannot undo
:27:34. > :27:38.his crimes, a former banker Jonathan is determined his
:27:38. > :27:42.experience should act as a warning for others. I think there are
:27:42. > :27:47.people in the same boat as I am in. If you can just tell people, when
:27:47. > :27:54.you are in a mess and your life is spiralling down, then you need to
:27:54. > :28:00.talk to people because they can help you. More problem gamblers are
:28:00. > :28:06.being referred to the UK's only NHS run clinic every day. But the