Web gambler suicide bid after £158,000 loss on parents' cards

AN INTERNET gambler tried to kill himself after losing £158,000 on his parents' credit cards in just 50 minutes in Scotland's worst case of online betting addiction, a court heard yesterday.

Richard Mahan, 25, admitted 13 charges of fraudulently running up debts of more than 68,000 in online William Hill betting rooms.

Mahan used 13 credit cards belonging to his mother, Linda, and father, James, to run up the huge debts.

Mahan told Forfar Sheriff Court he won 90,000 within an hour of logging on to the internet. But his luck quickly changed and he suddenly found himself losing thousands of pounds.

He kept gambling in a desperate attempt to at least break even. But he finally lost 158,000 after exhausting the limits on all 13 cards.

Sheriff Kevin Veal said: "If 150,000 can be lost in 50 minutes under clandestine conditions in the early hours of the morning, it is an issue so great that it needs to be addressed by the wider community. It is a social issue."

The offences occurred in the early hours of 3 April, 2005, at Mahan's parents' mansion in Brechin, Angus.

The procurator-fiscal, Brian Bell, told the court that the gambling happened over a period of less than two hours.

Mr Bell said: "Initially, he'd made more than 90,000 in profit, but within an hour, he started to lose money heavily until the credit cards ran dry and he ran up the debt. He then tried to commit suicide.

"The credit card companies contacted the father of the accused and they indicated that unless the matter was reported to the police, the parents' insurance cover would not come into place and they would have to pay back the money themselves. The father then reported the matter to the police."

Representing Mahan, solicitor John Clancy said the case highlighted the dangers in the lack of regulation of internet gambling.

He said: "The court should be aware that internet gambling, along with alcohol and heroin, is the scourge of the 21st century because it is unregulated.

"It also raises questions about the wisdom of credit card companies allowing borrowing levels to be raised without any real checks.

"Sadly, my own firm is seeing more and more cases of bankruptcies arising from addiction to online gambling."

In deferring sentence until next month, Sheriff Veal warned Mahan that he faced a jail term.

He added: "One can understand the line the credit card companies took because of the sheer sums involved.

"The quantum is so great that a prison sentence may have to be imposed in the public's interest."

Sentence was deferred for the court to arrange a social inquiry report, medical reports and a restriction of liberty order report.