// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Call for lottery gambling controls after dad's death
Stephen with his daughters Madeleine (left) and Freya (right)
A coroner has called for the National Lottery to be included in a self-exclusion gambling scheme after a man with a gambling addiction took his own life.
Stephen Goff, 54, died from asphyxiation at his flat in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, on 18 August 2025, an inquest heard.
Emma Whitting, senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, said there was a risk of further deaths unless the National Lottery draw was covered by GAMSTOP.
The system prevents people who register with it from accessing gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain.
The coroner has sent the Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report, external to the Gambling Commission and GAMSTOP.
A spokesperson for the commission said that following the inquest, they had "been working with Gamstop and Allwyn, the National Lottery operator, to consider whether further protections are needed in this area".
Stephen Goff gambled on the National Lottery Draw, which is not covered by a self-exclusion scheme
The inquest heard that since 2006, Goff had struggled with gambling addiction, which led to the breakdown of his marriage the following year.
Despite self-excluding from all online licensed gambling operators in 2018 and again in 2024 via GAMSTOP, he continued to gamble online with the National Lottery Draw.