Gambling addict taken to court for stealing a car

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by Change | 16 Oct 2008

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A man from Burton who attempted to set fire to a vehicle he stole has been revealed to have a gambling addiction.

The defending counsel for a 23-year-old who stole a car and tried to set it alight said he was "in an emotional state" at the time of the incident due to problems associated with his gambling addiction, it has been reported.

Stuart Gair was arrested after stealing a vehicle which had been left unattended with the keys in the ignition, according to the Burton Mail.

He then tried to set fire to it after it broke down because he had filled it with the wrong type of petrol.

Mr Gair's lawyer Mark Aspden said the act was "completely and utterly out of character" and had only happened because he had been thrown out by his father who had "had enough of bailing him out" from debt connected with his son's gambling abuse .

He had allegedly had a big argument with his dad over his problem and then been evicted.

In other news, the Telegraph revealed figures from gambling addiction charity Gamcare showing the number of people seeking gambling counselling increased from 30,000 in 2006 to 38,000 in 2007.

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