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Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005

Request

Please can you provide details of all matters charged under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 covering the period of 7 April 2005 to 31 March 2023. Details means name of case, date of charge and date of hearing (if the matter proceeded to hearing) and/or any other information available for public use that may provide details of the charges.

Response

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

In your email you have requested details of all matters charged under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 covering the period of 7 April 2005 to 31 March 2023.

The Gambling Commission has had one successful prosecution for the offence of ‘Cheating’ contrary to S42 of the Gambling Act 2005. This was the conviction of Chris Mosdall in 2015 for fixing greyhound races.

Section 21 of the FOIA provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere. Information can be found on our website (link here) and further detail is mentioned in an article in the Wimbledon Times (opens in new tab).

However, not every betting integrity case reported to the Sports Betting Integrity Unit (SBIU) is investigated by the Commission. This is because it is often found that other statutory criminal offences such as bribery, fraud and conspiracy are present and the Commission does not have the power or authority to investigate such crimes.

In these circumstances, the Commission is obligated to report this immediately to law enforcement (whether that is in this country or abroad) and those cases then become the responsibility of the relevant law enforcement agency that it has been referred to. The Commission does not track or keep records of the results of those cases.

Review of the decision

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.

Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.

If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.

The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Information Management Team
Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham B2 4BP

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