Gareth Evans self-excluded from online gambling with William Hill and complained to the company. They still allowed him to spend tens of thousands in their shops without intervention
The father of a Croydon man who took his own life in 2021 has said his son’s death was “directly caused by the gambling industry” after an inquest found that a lack of intervention by William Hill at its betting shops contributed to his death.
The inquest into 40-year-old Gareth Evans’ death found that gambling disorder and depression contributed to his suicide in November 2021. The family’s solicitor said his case highlighted the harm gambling can cause “even to otherwise happy and healthy people like Gareth”.
At an inquest at South London Coroner’s Court in Croydon on Thursday (July 9), HM Assistant Coroner Adela Williams concluded that Gareth, who lived in Croydon, took his own life at his flat in early November 2021. He’d left a note to his family indicating that he had ended his life due to his longstanding problems with gambling, which his family first became aware of in 2013.
The inquest, attended by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), heard that Gareth joined Gamblers Anonymous and referred himself to the National Problem Gambling Clinic to seek help.
In November 2020, after extensive online gambling in the preceding months, predominantly with William Hill, Gareth self-excluded from online gambling through the GAMSTOP scheme. GAMSTOP is a free national self-exclusion scheme that allows people to block themselves from using online gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain for a set period.
In January 2021, Gareth complained to William Hill, explaining that his gambling and losses over many years had significantly affected his mental health. However, the inquest heard that the complaint was rejected, and Gareth was understood to have resumed gambling in William Hill betting shops in East Croydon around April 2021.
Evidence given during the hearing showed that, in the six months before his death, Gareth made large cash withdrawals, many from a cash machine next to a William Hill shop near his flat. These were partly funded by HSBC bank loans, which his family were unaware of until after his death.
Two weeks before he died, Gareth contacted solicitors to enquire about making a claim against William Hill. He described visiting a William Hill betting shop “five times a day, often spending up to £800 in cash on the sports betting terminals”.
Despite this, the inquest heard that William Hill staff never attempted to speak to Gareth about his gambling.
Gareth’s note was read out during the inquest and detailed the immense struggles he was facing, particularly in the last six months of his life. Gareth’s mother, Rosalie Evans, said the family only understood the extent of their son’s mental health struggles after seeing the devastating impact gambling had on him, adding that they believed it was the root cause of the harm that ultimately led to his death.
Representatives from William Hill told the inquest that Gareth’s online gambling activity in August 2020 triggered its safer gambling procedures, including a phone call after he lost around £18,000, with the operator over three weeks.
The company also said Gareth later closed his online account and that it had no record of his subsequent gambling in its betting shops during 2021.
However, Tim Miller, Executive Director at the Gambling Commission, told the inquest that Gareth’s case reflected failings the regulator had already identified in William Hill’s policies and procedures.
Although Gareth’s case was not part of that review, the investigation resulted in the Gambling Commission issuing its largest-ever financial penalty against William Hill in March 2023. In Gareth’s case, the commission said it identified several points at which the operator could have recognised the risk of harm and stepped in.
Assistant Coroner Adela Williams concluded that William Hill had taken insufficient steps to intervene in Gareth’s gambling at its betting shops in 2021. She said she remained concerned about staff training and the lack of standardisation across the industry for controlling gambling in betting shops, and said she would issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Speaking to the LDRS after the hearing, Gareth’s father, Tony, said the family believed the hearing had confirmed what they had always known.
“Four and a half years since Gareth took his own life, the coronial process has confirmed what we as a family always knew: that his death was directly caused by the gambling industry and its dangerously addictive products, and that William Hill failed in their duties to protect him,” he said.
Tony described Gareth as “a normal, happy and healthy person who was loved by us all”. He said his son had a good job, lots of friends and enjoyed football, pub quizzes and travel.
“Although nothing can change what happened to our wonderful Gaz, we hope this inquest can help people understand that gambling kills – and that by telling his story we can open the conversation around gambling addiction, reduce the shame and stigma associated with it, and encourage other individuals currently experiencing gambling harm to seek treatment,” he added.
Fourth inquest this year to link gambling to suicide
The family’s solicitor, Dan Webster, from Leigh Day, highlighted that Gareth’s inquest was the latest to illustrate what he described as “the devastating harm which gambling can cause, even to otherwise happy and healthy people like Gareth”.
He continued: “This is the seventh inquest since 2022 at which gambling has been recognised as contributing to a self-inflicted death and the fourth in 2026 alone.
“Like a number of other cases, Gareth’s inquest has highlighted that, even where people self-exclude from online gambling via GAMSTOP in an effort to protect themselves from harm, there are inadequate systems in place to prevent them from gambling by other means.
“In Gareth’s case, he was able to spend tens of thousands of pounds gambling in William Hill stores, even after having made a complaint to the operator about its failure to intervene in his online gambling and the resulting impact on his mental health. It is vital that better systems are put in place to protect people in Gareth’s position and to identify signs of gambling harm in betting shops as well as online.”
Charles Ritchie, Chair of the charity Gambling with Lives, which has supported the family, said the inquest exposed “a series of missed opportunities” to identify Gareth’s gambling harm and intervene.
“Multiple organisations – primarily the gambling operator – had opportunities to recognise the harm he was suffering, yet those opportunities were not taken, either because of a lack of understanding or a lack of care,” he said.
Ritchie said Gareth’s death was one of a growing number of cases where a coroner had recognised the role gambling played in a self-inflicted death, and called for stronger protections and changes to gambling regulation.
Gareth’s family were represented at the inquest by Merry Varney and Dan Webster of Leigh Day, with Helena Hart-Watson and counsel Jesse Nicholls of Matrix Chambers.
Calls to stop proliferation of gambling shops
The inquest comes as an increasing number of London boroughs are pushing back on the proliferation of gambling venues in local high streets. Croydon Council rejected a licensing application for a 24-hour slots gaming centre in Norbury on July 2, a decision that was praised by residents who campaigned against it.
Brent Council has spoken out about the difficulty in refusing such applications due to the Government’s ‘aim to permit’ rule. The North West London borough recently declared a ‘gambling emergency’ and is developing a strategy to tackle the impacts.
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