Online gambling addiction ends in prison with baby

From Liverpool, Sian McLear developed a compulsive online gambling habit that began after a night at the bingo with colleagues and quickly spiralled into debt, theft and a prison sentence with her infant son by her side in a dedicated mother-and-baby unit.

"I remember my first win - I had a free spin and won £50 (AU$102)," she recalled. "But it escalated so quickly that I was playing in bed all night unable to sleep and was spending more than I earned." The smartphone became a constant lure: glowing slots, persistent notifications and the sense that a quick spin could solve every problem. What started as small bets soon grew into longer sessions and larger stakes, and she began borrowing money to keep playing.

She hid the habit from her partner and others while withdrawing more and more from her earnings. Debt mounted through payday loans and multiple credit lines. She eventually stole money from her employer, a finance manager, in a bid to cover losses, telling herself she wasn't doing it to hurt anyone but to repay the debt. "I hated the lies. I hated everything," she said. Over three years, prosecutors say, she stole £320,000 (AU$655,800).

November 2017 brought pregnancy and the shock of a termination from her job the same day. A few months later, a police investigation into the theft began. In January 2018, she told her family and partner about the gambling problem, and days later police interviewed her for about two-and-a-half hours. She later said she felt relief at finally telling somebody what she'd been through.

By late January 2019, Sian was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. She was placed in a women’s facility with a structured routine and a mother-and-baby unit that allowed her son George to stay with her during the week, returning to his father on weekends. She used the sentence to build a new life: learning hairdressing, working in the prison salon, pursuing higher education, and earning a certificate in food hygiene. She served one year and was released on January 31, 2020, then completed a bachelor’s degree in criminology and psychology from Liverpool John Moores University. Today, she works as the Education and Brief Intervention Lead at Beacon Counselling Trust.

Her experience shaped her current work: she seeks to shift perceptions about gambling harm and to push for workplace gambling policies as part of broader addiction support. "In the UK alone, 90 per cent of employers have a drugs and alcohol policy, but they don't have a gambling policy in place," she said. "That has to change."

Support is available for those affected by gambling-related harm: Beacon Counselling Trust offers free counselling in the UK; and international readers can contact Gamblers Helpline AU at 1800 858 858 or Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14.