Man Arrested in Major Crackdown on Unlicensed Gambling in UK

In a significant crackdown on illegal gambling, a 39-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent, Haydon Simcock, has been arrested by Staffordshire police for operating an unlicensed gambling operation. The arrest followed a comprehensive investigation by the UK’s Gambling Commission, which uncovered the illegal activities taking place from October 2023 to September 2024.

Simcock faces serious charges for providing gambling facilities to consumers across the UK without the necessary licenses during the period from October 8, 2023, to September 11, 2024. Additionally, he is charged with promoting betting offers between May 26, 2023, and March 1, 2024. He is scheduled to appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on March 24.

This case gained further attention following an undercover interview conducted by the Racing Post. In February 2024, Simcock reportedly claimed to serve as the commercial manager for an illegal horseracing bookmaker dubbed “The Post Bookmakers,” which took bets from players via WhatsApp. During the interview, he revealed that the operation employed around ten people and catered to approximately 1,300 customers at the time. Simcock stated that many of these customers had turned to his unlicensed operation due to restrictions imposed by regulated operators, specifically regarding affordability checks and account limitations.

The Gambling Commission has been ramping up efforts to target illegal gambling activities, with CEO Andrew Rhodes emphasizing the serious risks posed to consumers by unregulated markets. In a blog post last year, Rhodes highlighted the human impact of the illegal gambling sector, affirming the Commission’s commitment to disrupting such operations. 

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In the financial year to date, the Gambling Commission has issued over 770 cease-and-desist and disruption notices to illegal operators, including 262 directives to operators and 205 to advertisers. These actions are part of a broader initiative to combat illegal gambling, particularly in the online sphere.

As part of its ongoing efforts, the Commission is also working on an extensive report analyzing black market gambling activity in the UK. The first iteration of this report is expected to be released in the summer and will utilize web traffic data from unlicensed sites along with an analysis of player spending across 139,152 online gambling accounts from seven leading operators.

The case against Simcock serves as a stark reminder of the continuing battle against illegal gambling in the UK and the regulatory measures in place to protect consumers.