In a rural village in Norfolk, Andy May enjoyed a comfortable life with his family until police officers arrived at his doorstep to question him about the £1.3 million he had stolen from his job to fund a gambling addiction. The finance manager had never been in trouble with the law before, and his previous experience with gambling had been limited to small bets on the weekend. However, with access to credit and the potential to borrow money, his situation spiraled out of control.
May’s gambling addiction crept up on him, with his bets increasing from £5 to £10 and then rising to £50, which escalated to £500 per month. He chased his losses, knowing he should stop, but found it difficult to resist. May’s family became aware of his problem in 2007 when he gambled away their home deposit. His parents helped him, and he then avoided gambling for seven years.
In 2014, during the World Cup, May saw an offer for a free £50 bet on TV and fell back into the world of gambling, spending £50,000 in six months. He started to rely on credit cards and eventually used his employer’s money to continue gambling, gradually stealing more than £1.3 million over four and a half years. May was eventually caught and sentenced to four years in prison in June 2021.
After his release, May was put in touch with the charity Epic Restart Foundation, which helped him to start rebuilding his life. He spent six months in HMP Peterborough, where he felt unprepared for the boredom of isolation, but later moved to an open prison in Norwich. He began working for the Kier Group, which aimed to reintegrate ex-offenders into the workforce, and went to Gamblers Anonymous meetings weekly.
May has now partnered with GambleAware to reduce the stigma associated with gambling addiction and is volunteering to share his story. He has admitted that he could gamble again, but he focuses on taking each day at a time and not risking everything that he has rebuilt in recovery and relationships. He hopes that speaking out about his experience might encourage others to seek help before their gambling problem gets out of control
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