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Coroner blames Sportsbet after gambler's suicide
A Victorian coroner has ruled that Kyle Hudson's sports betting addiction led to his death, and called for a ban on gambling advertising.
In brief
A Victorian coroner has ruled that Kyle Hudson's sports betting addiction led to his death, and called for a ban on gambling advertising. A Victorian coroner ruled that 22-year-old Kyle Hudson's gambling addiction caused his suicide in 2021, and recommended banning gambling ads and inducements to young people…
Young man's betting spiral
Kyle Hudson opened a Sportsbet account on his eighteenth birthday and wagered eight hundred ninety five thousand seven hundred thirty three dollars with various betting companies over four years.
Losses mounted despite efforts
The Werribee man's net losses totalled forty seven thousand nine hundred forty five dollars. His girlfriend Ashley Baker tried to help by managing his finances and giving him a fifty dollar a week gambling allowance.
Final bets before death
On July sixth, twenty twenty-one, Kyle Hudson placed bets of five thousand dollars and one thousand three hundred dollars that failed. His mother found him dead later that night.
Coroner rules gambling caused death
Coroner Paul Lawrie found that online gambling was the main and direct cause of Kyle Hudson's suicide. Hudson had no history of mental illness or drug and alcohol problems.
“Kyle was a young man brimming with promise, and his story is heartbreaking. Ultimately, he lost everything.”
Sportsbet denies addiction claim
At the inquest, Sportsbet's lawyers argued that Kyle Hudson did not have a gambling problem. Coroner Lawrie called this view chilling given the tragic outcome.
“It is chilling that this is Sportsbet's view.”
System failed to see full picture
Kyle Hudson held accounts with Sportsbet, bet three sixty five, Neds and Ladbrokes. Each betting company could only see his activity on its own platform, leaving it blind to his betting elsewhere.
Coroner's key recommendations
Coroner Lawrie called on the federal government to ban all gambling advertising on mainstream and social media, ban gambling inducements like bonus bets for young customers, and create a national gambling data vault.
Australia's dangerous spending record
Australians spend thirty billion dollars each year on gambling. Coroner Lawrie said Australia leads the world in per capita gambling spending and gambling losses.
New laws fall short of need
New national gambling laws come into effect in January, including an opt out service for online betting advertising.
The one thing
A Victorian coroner ruled that 22-year-old Kyle Hudson's gambling addiction caused his suicide in 2021, and recommended banning gambling ads and inducements to young people.
