Gambling with lives

I WAS sorry to read of the anguish caused by a son’s compulsive gambling (Letters). My beloved son Zachary took his life at the age of 28, having racked up £250,000 of debt from online gambling.

He was bipolar and suffered from poor impulse control — a hallmark of this mental affliction. Despite

attempts to exclude himself from gambling websites (he was tech-savvy enough to find a way round it) and the support of the medical and psychiatric team at Milton Keynes Hospital, he committed suicide at his fifth attempt.

I strongly believe gambling organisations do little or nothing to protect vulnerable members of society while getting as much money out of them as they can.

FIONA CRAWFORD, York.