Sunday 29 May 2022 10:46 PM Mother's heartache over NHS worker who stepped in front of train after losing a ... trends now
An NHS worker stepped in front of a high-speed train during lockdown after Britain’s biggest bookmaker allowed him to lose £12,500 in a matter of days.
Josh Hall, 28, lost about half of his annual salary to Paddy Power in the week before he died as his addiction grew ‘completely out of control’.
Shortly after 9pm on May 17, 2020, the ‘kind and caring’ HR assistant stepped in front of a train travelling at 115mph, killing himself instantly.
Sheffield NHS worker Josh Hall, 28, took his own life after gambling £12,500 in a matter of days
In a statement read at his inquest, his distraught mother Shelley Hall said: ‘My world ended that awful day...
‘I asked the gambling company why they let him gamble thousands of pounds in 24 hours, days before he died... We will always be disgusted with the gambling company.’
Mr Hall’s losses triggered an alarm in Paddy Power’s automated system, but no one from its ‘responsible gambling’ team phoned him. Instead, he was sent an automated email asking him to confirm he was happy with his losses, the inquest held on May 12 heard.
Investigators found that he had been offered a loan of £51,000 to consolidate his gambling debts and other high-interest payday loan offers.
Hall, pictured with half-sisters Jade (left) and Mackenzie (centre), set off a Paddy Power alarm
Senior coroner Nicola Mundy ruled that Mr Hall, who lived in Sheffield, died as a result of suicide. She said: ‘He could see no way out. The motivating factor quite clearly was the gambling addiction and how that spiralled out of control.’
About £12,500 of Mr Hall’s losses were with Paddy Power and the remainder were with other bookmakers.
Flutter Entertainment, which owns Paddy Power, said it had made ‘significant changes’ in player protection since May 2020. It added: ‘We send our sincere condolences and deepest sympathy to Mr Hall’s family.
‘We want every customer to have a safe experience when betting with us and any incident of gambling-related harm leads us to review our player protection processes.’
For support, call the Samaritans for free on 116 123 or Gambling with Lives on 07864 299 158.
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