It was nearer 10. I had been out of prison for little over a year, I went to prison for a horrible dishonest crime I don’t want to expand on it here, but I did document it well in previous posts I’ve done.
Currently I’m a lorry driver, I love the job. I have missed and/or ruined too many opportunities in my life to think about.
But anyway about my casino ban. My case had been covered by local and national media. The town I lived in had a casino I had lived in that town a number of years and always held off from joining because my casino gambling had always been my “worst” gambling..the most enticing to me. I’d had a problem with bookies and bandits since I was 15 but it was the casinos that always lead me to the most strife.
Anyway, I was a taxi driver at the time and committed this horrible crime I fraudulently gained nearly £20 000 from it, well I didn’t gain anything except 18 months inside the casinos are the ones who gained.
I was realised from prison on a tag, but was allowed to keep my taxi licence, there were conditions my probation officer had to verify I was complying with conditions to the licencing dept every week, and obviously there was the curfew because of the tag. Once I came of the tag I started going to the casino…my gambling went off the rails.
One Sunday night after losing a lot of money I wrote the letters and told them it was me they might of read about in the papers I said I will have this problem all my life and I think that maybe they were concerned that if they didn’t bar me for life as I requested I would mention this should I ever go back to court.
Thankfully I’ve never been back to court, if they hadn’t of banned me chances are I probably would have.
The casino still has an attraction to you by the sounds of it, which wont just disappear. You will have to work on this, but don’t let it consume your thoughts.
If you end up working in criminal law you will have a better insight into addiction than a lot of lawyers and that may help you and your clients. I don’t think having any addiction excuses any of our behaviours, but does explain them.
I got to go mate, wish I had more time to spend posting tonight, but I work nights and have to go to work shortly.
Thanks for getting back to me, I’ll post a link in a reply to this post in a min…you mightn’t think I’m such a top bloke after you’ve read it.
Cheers.