A 24 year old youth from Sheffield, UK had committed suicide over gambling addiction in Vietnam in 2017.
Jack Ritchie had jumped off the building in November 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he had been teaching English.
His parents had demanded that UK government be investigated for liability on its part for regulating gambling industry and whether Ritchie was warned about the risks associated with gambling.
The parents of the deceased stated that the ‘government bodies do not want to know what killed a perfectly happy and healthy 24-year-old who was hooked on “products licensed by the state”, reported The Guardian.
The lawyers on the part of the government did not want a detailed inquest so as not to include state’s failures. They had requested the coroner to conduct cursory inquest. However on Friday, September 25, 2020, Sheffield’s senior coroner, David Urpeth, decided that a full inquest should take place. The full inquest might take place in February next year.
The inquest would investigate the UK Government’s regulatory mechanisms with respect to gambling industry and whether the deceased was warned about gambling addiction risks.
The investigation into regulation of gambling industry becomes more pertinent considering the fact that Ritchie became addicted to gambling when he was 17 years old. However, the investigation will not extend to Gambling Commission, which is the government backed body for regulating gambling in the country. The inquest will also investigate what medical treatment was available to and received by Ritchie in the UK as gambling addict.
Mother of the deceased Liz Ritchie stated that, “It’s so disappointing that the state doesn’t want to know. They are saying they don’t want to know what killed a perfectly happy and healthy 24-year-old who is engaged with products licensed by the state,” as reported by the Guardian (Sept. 25, 2020).
Charles Ritchie, father of the deceased had made efforts to stop his son’s gambling addiction when he was 18 years old by taking him to every betting shop and making him sign a form that would exclude his son from placing bets there, reported the Guardian.