New legislation is needed to hold the gambling industry to account, according to a Christian policy charity, after bookmaker Paddy Power was found to have encouraged a problem gambler to keep betting until he had lost his home and access to his children.
"It is extremely worrying and wholly unacceptable that in response to this customer's obvious addiction, instead of being offered support he was actively encouraged to keep gambling," Nola Leach, chief executive of CARE, told Christian Today.
Paddy Power has admitted that senior staff encouraged a man with a known gambling problem to continue betting, despite junior employees raising concern. This resulted in him losing five jobs, his home and access to his children.
A report by the Gambling Commission also found Paddy Power failed to perform sufficient checks on money laundering. The company will make a volunatry payment of £280,000 to a "socially responsible" cause following the findings.
"We do not think it is enough to just impose a fine, we need new legislation to hold the gambling industry properly to account," Leach said.
The man, referred to as Customer A in the report, had frequently been using fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). These machines allow customers to bet up to £100 every twenty seconds on games where the odds are fixed.
"Highly addictive FOBTs with their high speed play and huge maximum stake cause untold financial misery as is so clearly evidenced in the case of the individual," Leach said.
"It is time the government intervened and legislated to help curb excessive FOBT use as one means of helping problem gamblers.
"The Gambling Bill in the House of Lords would cut the maximum stake from £100 to just £2 and with a Second Reading expected soon, we would urge the government to throw its weight behind this historic legislation," she added.
Staff at Paddy Power became aware that Customer A "had no money" and was working five separate jobs to fund his gambling addiction in May 2014, according to the Gambling Commission.
Although he said he was comfortable with his level of gambling, staff raised concerns with more senior staff, who advised monitoring him. When he started gambling less frequently, a senior staff member advised that "steps should be taken to try to increase Customer A's visits and time spent in the gambling premises."
"This was grossly at odds with the licensing objective of preventing vulnerable people from being exploited by gambling," said the Gambling Commission.
It was not until August 2014 that Customer A was advised to seek help for his addiction, after he told an employee the extent of what he had lost through gambling.
