Man hooked on ‘crack cocaine’ bet machines trashed bookies
‘I’m sick of losing money’
A GAMBLING addict driven to despair by his losses smashed up ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines in seven bookmakers during a three-week rampage.
Eric Baptista used a hammer, anti-vandal paint and water balloons in his wrecking spree at William Hill branches, screaming: ‘ I’m sick of losing money.’
The taxi driver targeted fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which are nicknamed the ‘crack cocaine of gambling’ for ensnaring addicts, who can bet hundreds of pounds a visit on casino-style games such as roulette.
A court heard Baptista, 29, would often lose as much as £400 in just five minutes, and had used up his savings.
As well as targeting FOBTs, he damaged other self- service betting terminals, smashed shop windows damaged television screens. He also poured the contents of water balloons into machines. Baptista smeared paint in one branch and a friend filmed him on a mobile phone ‘wreaking havoc’ with a hammer in another. In the footage, he shouted: ‘I’m sick of this! I’m sick of losing money!’
A court heard that Baptista claimed his rampage was a protest against the betting industry. He caused £36,000 of damage.
Mike Stephenson, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court, said Baptista first struck on May 9, covering machines and TVs in one shop with anti-vandal paint, which he was seen buying at a nearby DIY store.
His crime spree continued over the next three weeks.
After throwing water balloons at gaming machines at another branch, he was heard to say: ‘This is a protest – there’s no safety net for customers.’
When arrested, Baptista told police he had tried to get himself banned from William Hill stores, but had failed.
Mr Stephenson said: ‘He said he was a gambling addict and had lost everything. He said he smashed all the machines out of frustration that he had lost so much money and William Hill had done nothing to help him. He said Rampage: Two of the smashed machines he started a forum against the gambling industry and campaigned to try to highlight the problems gamblers face without the help of betting companies.
‘He said he didn’t regret causing the damage and that he was willing to face the consequence of his actions.’ Baptista admitted seven counts of criminal damage.
Carole Clarke, defending, said Baptista often ‘lost £400 in five minutes’ on fixed-odds terminals and ‘lost all his savings’, which had led to family problems.
She said he was frustrated William Hill would not ban him and described his ‘extreme’ actions as ‘a cry for help, wrongly conceived’. Sentencing him to 12 months’ in prison, suspended for two years, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told Baptista: ‘There are more appropriate ways to deal with your gambling addiction than smashing up William Hill. Think what it must have been like for those working in the store to witness you, as something of a madman, smashing up those stores.’
Baptista was also banned from entering William Hill branches for five years.
After the case, a William Hill spokesman said: ‘As responsible operators, William Hill would never prevent someone who wished to do so from self-exclud- ing in any of our 2,344 shops or online. We welcome the verdict handed down as to the vandalism of a number of our shops.’
The Daily Mail has led calls to ban FOBTs, backed by charities and campaign groups.
The machines allow users to wager up to £100 every 20 seconds on casino games such as roulette and bingo, and the Gambling Commission said an astonishing £1.8 billion was lost on them in the year to September 2016.
Campaigners say they are fuelling addiction, debt, family breakdown and antisocial behaviour on high streets.