Fraud, theft, and drug dealing are among some of the crimes North East gambling addicts have committed in order to fund their habit.
Judges at courts in the region have heard details of some of their appalling offences as they sentenced these men and women.
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And today we reveal the names and faces of those who have been jailed or handed community orders for their crimes. From cocaine dealers to thieves - these crooks have fuelled their addictions by committing crimes which have devastating impacts on others.
Brian Hunter
This former professional footballer fleeced customers of his roofing business out of thousands of pounds and blew it on gambling.
Brian Hunter pocketed £46,000 from three victims for work that was either substandard, not done, or only partially done - and even took money from an elderly couple that they had set aside for their funerals.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Gateshead trading standards received a number of complaints about Hunter, who was trading as Premier Roofing and Building Developments North East.
Hunter, 41, of Dewley Road, Slatyford, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to participation by a sole trader in a fraudulent business and two counts of committing misleading actions under unfair trading regulations. The court heard Hunter has a significant gambling addiction and is £10,000 in debt, on top of what he owes his victims.
He wrote a letter to the court saying he used to be a professional footballer for Cambridge and Notts County then played in the Alliance league but suffered an injury that ended his career. The qualified roofer said he has had a gambling addiction since he was 18 or 19 and has lost thousands of pounds.
The court heard he is "truly remorseful" and has been getting help from Gamblers Anonymous for the first time.
Judge Amanda Rippon said: "You are not dangerous but you deserve a prison sentence." The judge deferred sentence until August 14.
Charlotte Lowery
This thief has been jailed for stealing £111,000 from the owner of the Wooler hotel where she worked and blowing it on gambling.
Charlotte Lowery was employed by Tankerville Arms Hotel hotel owner Anne Park and ended up looking after the finances of the business. However, Lowery betrayed the trust placed in her by stealing huge sums to fund her online gambling habit.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Mrs Park, 71, is being forced to sell her home to make up for the black hole in her finances and her hopes of retiring and leaving a thriving business to her sons are in ruins.
Mother-of-five Lowery, 36, of Willow Close, Lesbury, Alnwick, pleaded guilty to stealing a total of £111,024 between February 2020 and May 2021.
The court hear that the money was spent on gambling. Some £90,000 was sent to 26 different online gambling sites and £20,076 was used to supplement her income.
Mrs Park said that even after the theft was discovered, she had to pay Lowery a further £2,740 in holiday pay after she threatened to take her to an employment tribunal if she didn't.
The court heard all the money Lowery stole has gone and she was ordered to pay back a nominal £1 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. She has been jailed for 28 months for theft.
Lee Douglass
A cunning conman preyed on an elderly couple by getting them to hand over more than £100,000 which he blew on gambling and drugs.
Lee Douglass betrayed his friendship with the victims by persuading them to plough their life savings into schemes that he claimed would be profitable for them. But instead, he wasted their hard-earned cash on his habits.
Douglass, 32, of West Moor, North Tyneside, pleaded guilty to fraud on the basis the total loss was £110,000 although the victims said they actually lost £171,000. He also admitted possessing a small amount of cocaine and cannabis when he was arrested.
He was jailed for three years and two months.
Liam Friar
A cocaine dealer who benefitted to the tune of almost £200,000 has been ordered to pay back just £2,500 of his ill-gotten gains.
Liam Friar's lucrative operation came crashing down when a fidgety woman in a car he was in raised police suspicions she was on drugs. Inquiries showed Friar had been dealing cocaine and he was jailed for 31 months last year.
Now his case has been brought back to Newcastle Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The court heard he benefitted to the tune of £199,833 but his available assets amount to a car worth £2,500, which is the figure he must pay back within three months or face an extra two months in jail. If he were ever to come into money in the future, he would be made to pay more of the outstanding amount.
Friar, 24, of Meadow Garth, Belford, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply and was jailed for 31 months. When interviewed by the probation service, he admitted having been dealing for four years.
Richard Bloomfield, defending, said Friar was immature and references speak highly of him. He added: "It was about funding his own abuse. He was gambling at the time and needed money to pay for his drugs. He shows remorse at what he has done and is of previous good character before this."
Gemma Jeremiah
This woman stole more than £48,000 and a diamond ring from her partner's dad while he was seriously ill in hospital to fund her gambling habit.
Gemma Jeremiah had been in a relationship with the victim's son for around 15 years when his dad suffered a "massive stroke" early last year. Her partner was concerned about a significant amount of money he knew his dad, a retired businessman, kept at home. To keep it safe he initially stored it at the address he shared with the defendant but then moved it to her grandparents' home.
However, when his father came home and wanted to know where the money was, Jeremiah ended up confessing that there was no money left.
Emma Dowling, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "She had a significant gambling problem and she had effectively gambled all that money away."
When she was arrested, Jeremiah was wearing a diamond ring belonging to the victim's mother, which she had also stolen, which she didn't initially disclose.
Jeremiah, 39, of Charles Court, Heaton, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to stealing £48,400 and the ring. Judge Penny Moreland sentenced Jeremiah to two years suspended for two years with rehabilitation and a six month curfew.
Sabbi Miah
This man turned to drug dealing after racking up gambling debts.
Sabbi Miah was caught with a cocktail of narcotics worth up to £88,000 after trying to hide from police in a wheelie bin.
He was the passenger in a speeding car which drew the attention of officers in Whitley Bay. After a chase, the driver lost control and he and Miah made a run for it. The driver got away but Miah was caught climbing into a bin and when the car was searched, cocaine, MDMA and ketamine were seized and he also had £2,800 in cash.
Police found documents linking him to an apartment in Newcastle city centre, where a much bigger stash of cocaine, heroin, MDMA and cannabis was found.
The court heard Miah lost his job during lockdown and got into gambling debts, which he reduced from £40,000 to £24,000 after he started to deal drugs.
The 23-year-old, of Kingsley Terrace, Newcastle, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, heroin, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine with intent to supply and possessing criminal property. He was jailed for four years and one month.
Reece Casey
A EuroMillions winner who began defrauding people out of money after squandering his £164,000 prize has been jailed.
Reece Casey scammed £34,000 from 25 victims by claiming he could get 40% discount from luxury clothing company Flannels. The 31-year-old left his victims out of pocket after defrauding them via Snapchat in June, last year.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Casey began an "entrenched lifestyle of gambling" after working off-shore. In 2018, Casey went on to win £54,000 from betting firm William Hill, before going on to pocket a £164,000 windfall a year later on the EuroMillions.
But despite his wins, Casey "squandered" the thousands gambling after developing an addiction - it was then he took the decision to begin defrauding people.
Casey, of Maughan Street, Dudley, West Midlands, pleaded guilty to fraud and was jailed for 12 months.
Leslie Pattinson
This gambling addict stole specialist tools from work and sold them on eBay before being caught by a colleague.
Leslie Pattinson, 61, had been working as a forklift truck driver at JDR Cable Systems, a cable manufacturer based in Walker, Newcastle, for around three years when he began helping himself to equipment and flogging the tools online.
Pattinson had 57 items listed on eBay for auction before another employee bought a product and proved he was the seller and reported him. After being caught, Pattinson resigned from his job, stating he suffered from a gambling addiction and was in debt.
Pattinson was later arrested and his home was searched with tools and other equipment was found. The court heard that in total, the value of the equipment and tools he stole amounted to around £16,000.
Pattinson, of Litchfield Avenue, Walker, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to theft by employee. The court heard that Pattinson had developed a gambling addiction in his late 50s and bet on horse racing and football matches but had racked up "significant debts" which he needed to pay.
Pattinson was given an 18-month community order and must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
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