Unpaid work and £2,000 legal costs for unlicensed bookmaker
27 October 2015
A man who took bets over the phone without an operating licence has been ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid community work and pay £2,000 in legal costs.
David Lawson, 58, of Main Street, Cockermouth, admitted providing illegal gambling facilities from an address in Cockermouth between September 2014 and January 2015, when he appeared before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court last week.
District Judge Robert Zara sentenced Lawson to a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work. He also ordered Lawson to pay a victim surcharge of £60 and £2,000 towards the Gambling Commission’s legal costs.
The case was prosecuted by the Gambling Commission with assistance from Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria Constabulary.
Nick Tofiluk, Director of Regulation at the Commission, said: “This is a good example of the Commission, Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria Constabulary working together to stop unlicensed gambling.
“We would like to warn members of the public that many of the safeguards in place to ensure that gambling is fair and open may be missing when dealing with unlicensed operators. Details of all operators licensed by us are published on our website.”
Detective Sergeant Hayley Wilkinson, of Cumbria Constabulary, said: “We always welcome working with other agencies to bring offenders to justice and I am pleased that this joint operation with the Gambling Commission led to a positive result.”
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Last updated: 1 February 2021
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