Gambling addict falls into a ring of debt
The internet is making it even easier to run up debt with online gambling tempting us with large sums of money for a spin on the roulette or a deal of the cards.
For Richard Bourne, his online gambling addiction plundered him into £5,000 worth of debt. Instead of seeking gambling help and a debt soltuion, like a consolidated loan, he took a very different path.
In a desperate attempt to raise money to settle this debt, he leapt over the counter of a jeweller’s and snatched three trays of diamond rings. The police were able to quickly identify the young robber from the fingerprints that he left on the counter. Some of the rings were valued at £10,000 but the police have only been able to retrieve one ring to the value of £395.
Staff at the jewellers were completely shocked by the whole experience and one sales assistant was kicked and punched as she tried to hold on to the trays.
Bourne had been using his credit cards to run up debt on the internet and explained that his gambling arose as a result of losing his father, breaking up with his girlfriend and falling out with his mother to the point where he was reduced to sleeping rough during the past three months.
Although the judge was sympathetic to the difficult time that the young man had been experiencing prior to the burglary, he was not able to condone robbery as a means of settling debt and sentenced the young man to three and a half years imprisonment.
Debt Advice News posted on 29/10/2007 14:36:37
|
