Dear Tony,
I’m glad to say that I arrived back in Channings Wood HMP on Thursday evening. I’m straight back into work teaching my own class tomorrow, so I can carry on completing my teaching qualification.
The main reason that I wanted to write was to thank you for everything that you’ve done for me. I could not be more grateful for the support that you have given me.
Not only have you supported me, but you were also a massive support for my mum and family, which I know my family are extremely grateful for.
If it wasn’t for the services of GamLEARN then I believe I would have got double the amount of time that I got.
I believe that the work which you did as well as the psychiatric report which you funded made all the difference and I really appreciate it so much.
Not only did the report help me in court, but it was also so helpful in terms of my recovery journey.
The four hours which I spent talking to the professional was the best thing that I’ve done so far in terms of recovery, in the thirteen years since my gambling addiction started, I was able to open up and talk about things which had been bottled up for so long and it has really helped me to start to understand myself better and think about why I gambled. It was one of the hardest but also the best things that I’ve ever done.
I think that the work that GamLEARN does is incredible, I have always been desperate for people to have an awareness about gambling addiction and the change which they cause and on behalf of every gambling addict I thank you so much for fighting to get that awareness out there and educate people on it.
In thirteen years of my addiction, I have experienced such a lack of awareness, which has hindered me from getting the support that I have always desperately needed and if there was more awareness in the past then maybe I wouldn’t be in prison now, which is why your services are so vitally important.
I have been sentenced four times now and each time it has been for fraud because of my gambling, and not once have I ever been offered any support by the police, courts, prison or probation and yet the purpose of the criminal justice system is to help rehabilitate and prevent re-offending, but yet have never helped me with that.
I understand that the lack of support in prison is due to funding, but there is no reason why courts or probation can’t signpost or offer support.
If my addiction was drugs or alcohol and I had been sentenced this many times then at some point I am sure that I would have had an intervention and been sent to rehab and again that comes down to a lack of awareness and understanding, which is crazy when without gambling, I wouldn’t have
offended. This is why your work is so important and I cannot thank you enough.
I mentioned before that on my sentencing before, the solicitor didn’t even want to mention gambling because she thought that it would look like I am not taking responsibility, which I always do, but people have to understand that I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for gambling.
This just shows that solicitors and barristers had no idea about gambling addictions. However, this time you provided me with one of your solicitors and she was absolutely amazing and was wanting to take risks in covering my gambling, and it was so nice to have a solicitor who understood and also made me feel at such ease, which is again down to the work which you do.
The only thing that I am still disappointed in is the lack of awareness that was still shown by the police, prosecution, and judge in my case, because there was little mention of my gambling, despite it being the only reason for fraud.
Every penny that I ever got went straight to the bookmakers and the only time money was withdrawn back to my account it was to go straight to one of the victims, because I did always intend to pay back which again, they don’t see due to lack of awareness.
I never intended to cause harm, I just wanted a relationship and unfortunately gambling always ruined that, but I never spoke to people with the intention off getting money and yet due to the lack of awareness the courts, police and even probation don’t see that.
Probation even has me as high risk to the police which prevents me from getting released on temporary license from this prison, which basically means you can have days at home in the last few months of your sentence.
It’s crazy when I see some of the people who are low or medium risk.
I can see how eighteen months ago when I first came in, I was at high risk because I was released from my last sentence and relapsed soon after and then committed fraud again. However, in eighteen months I have done so much, but more importantly how can I be high risk when I am only a risk if I gamble, yet there are so many barriers in place including a prevention order, but again that comes down to a lack of awareness. Hopefully at some point they will lower my risk.
The thing that I’m most upset about is that in court they don’t seem to want to mention the gambling, it’s almost like the judge and prosecution are scared to use it as mitigation in case people think that they are excusing my behavior, this is where the public also still need so much educating.
However, the news doesn’t help this. I was really upset to hear that my sentencing made the news and that the BBC didn’t mention the gambling.
It’s crazy, I hate what I have done and have so much guilt, but I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for my addiction and of course I still do take full responsibility.
I hoped my case would help to increase awareness, but more importantly make more people aware of the serious harm and destruction caused by the addiction in hope that I could help others and prevent more victims.
This was the perfect chance for the news to do this.
I of course understand that articles will always be pro victims and they should be, I am disgusted with what I have done, but when gambling is the only reason for this crime, it is so important that people know that it could help many others.
Not only that, but it’s actually unfair on the victims, for them to be able to get closure, it’s important for them to know what led me to do what I did, instead they are left thinking I just targeted them for money, which is so wrong.
There are so many opportunities for so many to increase awareness about gambling and yet they fail to do it, whether that’s across the news, the government or across the criminal justice system.
Again, this is why I could not be more thankful for the work that you do, and I will be forever grateful for what you have done for me and my family.
I will always remember how anxious I felt walking into that courtroom and then how at ease I felt when I saw that you had travelled all the way down just to support me.
The work that you do is so inspiring and getting the awareness out there and helping others is something which I am now so passionate about doing, and hopefully one day I get the opportunity to work with you on this mission.
Thank you so much again for everything, I could not be luckier to have been put in contact with you.
Yours sincerely
Seb
If you, or someone you love, are impacted by gambling related crime, contact us on support@dev-gamlearn.brightonwebdesign-hosting.com.
To find out more about our support service please click here.
