‘It’s shattered our family’: how illicit offshore bookies exploit struggling gamblers who are trying to quit

International network appears designed to profit from gamblers who have signed up with UK self-exclusion scheme GamStop

The Long family are facing up to their second Christmas without their eldest son.

Last year, an eight-year cycle of gambling addiction, recovery and relapse came to an end when Ollie took his own life, aged 36.

Gambling addiction had taken a devastating toll on a young man remembered as kind and quick-witted, with bright career prospects and a loving family. It left Ollie terrified of his future.

Now, a picture has begun to emerge of why, try as he might, he could not shake the affliction that had dogged him for so long.