Illegal WhatsApp bookie sentenced after Gambling Commission investigation

The man has received a suspended jail sentence and community service for taking bets on horseracing without a licence.

UK.- A man who ran an illegal WhatsApp gambling business taking horseracing bets in the UK has received a 30 week suspended jail sentence and a 200-hour community service order. Haydon Simcock, 40, of Valley Road, Weston Coyney, Stoke on Trent, was also ordered to carry out 20 hours of rehabilitation activity and to pay £230,000 compensation and £60,000 to cover Gambling Commission costs.

Simcock admitted to providing gambling without a Gambling Commission operating licence between October 18 2023 and September 11 2024. He also admitted advertising unlawful gambling without an operating licence between May 26 2023 and March 1 2024. In addition, he failed to return a customer’s £269,000 account balance, hence the order to pay compensation to the victim.

The Gambling Commission took part in a criminal investigation into the man’s activities with Staffordshire Police after an investigative reporter at the Racing Post revealed that Simcock has claimed to be the VIP commercial manager at a betting operator called The Post Bookmakers. The investigation found that Simcock had invited people to place bets via the Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp, set up betting accounts, acting as a customer services agent, and personally collected cash from customers in order for them to place bets.

He also provided direct administrative back-up to gambling transactions by agreeing odds, agreeing offers such as matched deposits and rewards for referrals and taking payments from customers. Records recovered from Simcock’s electronic devices revealed he took bets from people he suspected of dealing drugs and that he had suggested he could make one disgruntled customer “disappear”.

Magistrates at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court said Simcock had “narrowly avoided custody” when they decided to suspend his sentence for two years.

John Pierce, the Gambling Commission’s director of enforcement, said: “This case illustrates all the risks that consumers face from illegal gambling – links to crime, having no regard for social responsibility, repeatedly exploiting consumers and operating without any of the necessary operational safeguards in place.

“This investigation shows our determination to take action against illegal operators and protect consumers from harm. Using mobile apps like WhatsApp does not make illegal gambling invisible or beyond our reach – we can evidence such activity is taking place and we will use every power available to us to play our part in removing this unlawful activity from the British marketplace and to ensure those responsible are held to account for their actions.”

It was previously reported that Simcock had claimed that The Post had as many as 10 employees and 1,300 customers. He said some of these customers had stopped betting with licensed operators because of the Gambling Commission’s affordability checks and other account restrictions.