Son lost £30,000 gambling with dad’s credit cards

Blackburn magistrates heard Daniel Richardson sent his parents an e-mail pointing them in the direction of his crime and then went to the police station and admitted what he had done.

Today his father Stephen Richardson, 45, called for tighter security for online gambling.

And Mr Richardson revealed his family's anguish after he was forced to prosecute his son for theft to recover some of the credit card debts. Daniel Richardson, of Rhyddings Street, Oswaldtwistle, pleaded guilty to seven charges of theft from Stephen Richardson and asked for five similar offences to be taken into consideration.

He was made subject to community supervision for 12 months and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said Daniel Richardson had a history of problems with gambling going back four years.

"He began to get in debt using credit cards and over the years the family have helped," said Miss Allan. "They thought he was in control of his addiction."

On October 6 his parents went to Amsterdam and arranged for him to look after his sisters until their return on October 8.

They returned to find an e-mail which said that under the desk there were two envelopes containing something he felt he should tell them.

"One contained a letter explaining how he had run up debts using Mr Richardson's credit cards and saying how sorry he was," said Miss Allan.

"The other contained two documents detailing the transactions he had made gambling on the internet."

Daniel, who had lost nearly £30,000, later told police he had been winning at one stage before being drawn into making bigger bets.

Clare Knight, defending, said Daniel Richardson was deeply remorseful and fully appreciated the anguish he had caused his parents.

"He went to the police himself and admitted what he had done and has shown genuine remorse for his actions," said Miss Knight.

Today Stephen Richardson, of Darwen, said he felt compelled to speak out about his son's experience to stop other families from spiralling into debt on internet gambling websites.

He said: "We were so shocked but more worried for Daniel than anything.

"As a father you do what is best for your children and we knew Daniel has had a problem with gambling.

"Obviously £30,000 is a lot of money and I had my wife and my family to think of so we had to go ahead with the prosecution.

"If there was a chance he would be given a custodial sentence I do not know what we would have done as I could not have put my son in prison.

"He had literally lost all that money in about 30 minutes using various credit cards and gambling on different sites.

"He even told me that at one point he was actually winning.

"There was no limit on how much he could bet. All he had to do was use my credit card to deposit money in a betting account and he cold bet straight away.

"Some sites only asked for the card number and expiry date and didn't even ask for the security number on the back of the card or any security questions."

Now Daniel is in full-time work and Mr Richardson said he had been free of gambling for six months.

"Daniel has had a long standing problem with gambling but there are so few organisations to help people with a gambling addiction.More should be done to highlight this problem and help those with an addiction.

"It was so easy for Daniel and I know my son was wrong to do what he did and I know he should be punished.

"However these sites and the credit card companies have a responsibility too.

"To be able to place £5,000 bets in one go without checking whether that person is who they say they are is absolutely bonkers.

"It is ludicrous this was able to happen and I just hope that by speaking out more people will become aware of the pitfalls of internet gambling."

A spokesman from Gambler's Anonymous, where Daniel has received counselling, said gambling on-line was particularly dangerous as many overseas-based companies were not regulated by English law.