Debate contribution: Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on 16 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Philip McGuigan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

16 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5448931

Read the official Assembly record

Text

While my colleagues have spoken to the totality of the Bill, I am going to speak exclusively on the issue of gambling addiction and how the progress of the Bill could affect that in a positive way. I speak today as chair of the all-party group on reducing harm related to gambling. There is a very real link between gambling addiction and criminal offending. For some people, gambling harm does not just end with financial loss but can spiral into crime, such as fraud, theft and embezzlement, often committed out of desperation. Those crimes are not committed by hardened criminals but, very often, by ordinary people whose lives have unravelled as a result of addiction. If we are serious about building a justice system that prioritises rehabilitation and reduces offending, we have to be honest about the factors that lead people to the courts in the first place. The evidence on gambling addiction is pretty clear. Data from the Gambling Commission shows that around one in six people who are classified as suffering from gambling addiction say that they have committed a crime as a direct consequence of gambling. In the North, the problem is particularly acute. Around 3% of adults meet the threshold for gambling addiction, and 14% of people who gamble say that they have bet more than they can afford to lose. Those statistics represent people and real consequences. We have seen cases locally where employees have stolen from their workplaces to cover gambling debts, believing that one more win will allow them to repay the money. We regularly read in the local papers of cases where individuals have accumulated large personal debts through online betting before resorting to fraud in a desperate attempt to keep up the repayments. Those are not isolated incidents. They are fast becoming an almost weekly occurrence in our local newspapers; examples of how addiction can push people into behaviour that they would previously never have contemplated. Gambling companies are making enormous profits while deploying increasingly aggressive tactics to keep people gambling, including free bets, free spins, VIP schemes and loyalty programmes that are designed to reward the biggest spenders. These incentives are aimed not at the occasional gambler but at people who are already vulnerable. While gambling remains largely unregulated in the North, many people here are particularly exposed to those harms. I understand that this debate is not specifically gambling or addiction. It is important, however, that we interject the importance of how this Bill can help to alleviate, or at least take into account, gambling addiction. It is also important to point out that we have a lot more to do in the North to treat gambling addiction as a public health issue and to regulate and bring our laws up standard. As gambling addiction escalates, people can, and will, become desperate. Research shows that individuals may resort to what is described as "financial misappropriation": taking loans that they believe that they can repay with winnings, borrowing beyond their means or committing offences in the hope that, as I have said, one last big win will solve everything. Of course, as we know, that never happens. Instead, the situation worsens. What we often see is that those people become first-time offenders — people who would never previously have imagined themselves appearing before a court. Our justice system is already seeing such consequences. In 2023, the Probation Board for the North reported that 4% of its caseload comprised people with a self-declared gambling problem.

More important, the board also believes that the true figure is likely to be higher. That should not be a surprise to anyone: gambling addiction carries enormous stigma, and people are often ashamed to admit it, even when it is the underlying cause of their offending behaviour.

Despite that, our justice system still does not properly recognise the role that gambling addiction can play. Currently, there is no requirement for gambling addiction to be included in pre-sentencing reports. Probation officers may refer someone to addiction services, but it is entirely optional. While sentencing guidelines can include consideration of mental illness as a mitigating factor, addiction, including gambling addiction, is not formally recognised in the same way. That means that, when judges and magistrates make decisions about sentencing, they may not have the full picture about why an offence occurred, and that is a missed opportunity. Recognising addiction does not excuse criminal behaviour, but it helps us to respond to it more effectively. If we want to reduce reoffending, we must address the causes of crime, not just the symptoms. We have already seen the benefits of such an approach. Since 2018, the substance misuse court at Laganside has used therapeutic intervention and judicial supervision to support individuals who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. The aim is not simply punishment but recovery and rehabilitation. That approach has shown real promise. Why would we apply that kind of thinking to some addictions but not to gambling addiction? There are practical steps that we can take. First, we should ensure that gambling addiction is routinely considered in pre-sentencing reports so that courts understand the full context of an offence. Secondly, we should recognise gambling addiction as a mitigating factor in sentencing guidelines in the way that other jurisdictions already do. Countries such as Canada already recognise problem gambling in sentencing decisions not to excuse offending but to better understand culpability and support rehabilitation. Those changes would not weaken our justice system; they would strengthen it. The Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill presents an opportunity to shape how sentencing works in the years ahead, and the Minister's review of sentencing policy, which was launched in January, provides another important avenue to consider emerging issues such as gambling-related harm. I welcome the Minister's statement that the matters under review are not exhaustive, and I hope that this issue can be included in that work. If we ignore the connection between gambling, addiction and crime, we risk allowing the cycle of harm to continue. I have two simple but important asks and steps for the Minister: to require the Probation Board to screen for gambling addiction in pre-sentencing reports and to ensure that gambling addiction is recognised in sentencing guidance as a mitigating factor. Taking those steps would help to ensure that our justice system responds not only to the offence itself but to the underlying harm that too often drives it. It would be a meaningful step towards a more effective, humane and rehabilitative justice system.

1,087 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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