The family of a man who say he took his own life after placing more than 600 bets in an hour have told the BBC that his inquest was a “battle” from beginning to end, as they struggled to persuade the coroner to consider gambling as a factor in his death.
In the early hours of 24 July 2020, 36-year-old Lee Adams placed hundreds of bets on an online slots website shortly after receiving his monthly salary, according to his family. Within hours, the south Londoner had taken his own life.
More than five years later, in November 2025, a coroner concluded that a gambling disorder had contributed to his death.
Adams’s cousin, Natalie Ashbolt, said the family had to instruct lawyers in an effort to have the coroner consider the impact of his gambling, and is calling for better support for families affected by gambling-related deaths.
Ashbolt, whose family also had the backing of a campaign group called Gambling with Lives, said she was shocked by how hard the process was, and worries other bereaved families will struggle to achieve a similar outcome at inquest.
The family’s solicitors Leigh Day believe Adams’s inquest at Southwark Coroner’s Court was only the third time the role of gambling had been considered in depth at an inquest – despite there being up to nearly 500 gambling-related suicides in England a year, according to a report by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities., external