Coroner finds online betting was direct cause of 22-year-old's suicide

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 14:44 · Archive

A Victorian coroner has found that online gambling was the direct cause of a 22-year-old's suicide.

Online betting was the 'direct and paramount' cause of Kyle Hudson's death, a Victorian coroner has found. The 22-year-old from Werribee opened his first gambling account with Sportsbet on his 18th birthday in 2017 and gambled $895,733 across multiple online betting platforms over the next four years, including Entain and Bet365.

Hudson placed 8,585 bets in total and lost $47,945. His final two bets came in the 12 hours before his death on 6 July 2021: a $5,000 bet on a women's basketball match at 12.53am, which he lost at 10.41am, followed by a $1,300 bet at 10.43am. Minutes after the second loss, he searched online for methods of suicide before taking his own life.

Coroner Paul Lawrie said Hudson was 'a young man brimming with promise' with a supportive partner, family and friends, but online gambling had a 'grip upon him'. The coroner found gambling directly caused the breakdown of Hudson's relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Baker, in the days before his death. Lawrie called the case 'a clear signal that we cannot leave monitoring and intervention solely in the hands of the betting companies' and called for national gambling reform.

How it is being reported

• Calls for reforms after Aussie who opened his first gambling account at 18 took his own life after losing $50,000Kyle Hudson took his own life on July 6, 2021, after losing close to $50,000 to gambling.Daily Mail · 20 Oct, 14:23
• A young life ‘dominated by gambling’: Victorian coroner delivers stinging findings on death of 22-year-oldOnline betting was the ‘direct and paramount’ cause behind Kyle Hudson’s decision to take his own life, inquest finds Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Kyle Hudson was “a young man brimming with promise”, with a loving and supportive partner, family and friends, and prospects. “It was a near ideal picture – except for the grip that online sports betting had upon him,” the Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie said on Tuesday. Continue reading...Guardian World · 20 Oct, 07:29

In this story: Kyle Hudson · Paul Lawrie · Ashley Baker · Sportsbet · Entain · Bet365 · Werribee · Victoria

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