Coroner: ‘William Hill failings contributed to man’s suicide’

Bookmaker William Hill could have done more to help a 40-year-old gambler who took his own life, an inquest has found.

In her concluding statement at Croydon Coroner’s Court, assistant coroner Adela Williams criticised ‘a lack of intervention’ by the gambling firm leading up to Gareth Evans’ death.

During a three-week period in 2020, Evans lost around £18,000 to the operator through his online account. After a call from the firm, he closed his account and subsequently self-excluded from online gambling via GAMSTOP.

Shortly before his suicide in 2021, he reportedly visited a William Hill betting shop several times a day, spending hundreds of pounds on its sports betting terminals. In a note left for his family, he indicated that he had taken his own life due to gambling.

‘Gambling kills’

Through the family’s legal representatives, Gareth’s dad Tony Evans said: “Although nothing can change what happened to our wonderful Gaz, we hope this inquest can help people understand that gambling kills”.

Mum Rosie Evans told The Times: “If somebody had spoken to him when he was going on a daily basis, depositing large sums of money. But nobody cared. They just took every penny they could.”

Charles Richie, Chair of Gambling with Lives — a charity which has been supporting Gareth’s family — observed: “Gareth’s death is one of a growing number of cases where a coroner has recognised the role gambling played in a self-inflicted death.”

He added that his death “underlines the urgent need for stronger protections and a modern gambling law that reflects the risks posed by today’s gambling products and industry practices”.

World Cup

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup, Paul Nash — a man who lost £100,000 due to sports betting — warned others about the harms of gambling.

Nash started betting on football while at university, and over the next decade lost tens of thousands of pounds to the point of sometimes being unable to pay the £3 bus fare to his workplace.

Although now gamble-free, he believes that he will be in recovery from gambling addiction his whole life, explaining: “I think about gambling all the time, the difference is solely that I’m not acting on my impulses.”  But he noted that the World Cup will be a challenge, saying: “Every big tournament, it always encouraged me to gamble more.”

An estimated £26 billion was bet on the 2022 World Cup, with some predicting this could increase to £37 billion for this year’s competition. The Nationwide Building Society found that 68 per cent of gamblers expect to spend more on bets this year, primarily because of the World Cup.