A mother from Wallasey has revealed how a seemingly innocent night out at bingo with colleagues triggered a devastating gambling addiction, leading to the theft of over £320,000 from her employer and a prison sentence.
From a Free Spin to a Downward Spiral
Sian Mclear-Dyer, 36, had occasionally gambled at the races without issue, but her life changed around 2015 after a work social event. To get a free game at a bingo hall, she downloaded an app. That single action opened the floodgates to a torrent of promotional offers and notifications.
"I played this spin game. I span 50p and won £50. I thought, that was easy. Then it just spiraled from there," Sian told the Liverpool Echo. What began as casual play quickly consumed her. She started secretly staying up all night on her mobile, playing slot games while her husband slept, consumed by anxiety over her mounting losses.
The Descent into Theft and 'Two Lives'
After exhausting her wages, Sian turned to payday loans and new credit cards. When she could no longer manage repayments, the finance manager began stealing from the property law firm where she worked. Over a four-year period, she estimates losing approximately £400,000 when combining loans, credit, and embezzled funds.
"I was thinking, what am I going to do? Nobody can know I've got no money because of gambling," she said. "I 100% know it's stealing, but in my head at the time I was thinking, it's okay, because when I win, I'll pay it back." Sian described "living two lives", maintaining a normal facade by day while gambling through the night, paralysed by shame from seeking help.
Rock Bottom, Recovery, and a New Mission
The turning point came in 2018. She lost her job after her employer discovered the financial discrepancies and, in a cruel twist, found out she was pregnant just an hour before being dismissed. "My whole world fell apart, but I was relieved everything had come out. I could speak about it," she recalled.
This crisis led her to the Beacon Counselling Trust (BCT) in Liverpool, which she credits with saving her life. However, she still faced legal consequences, serving just under a year in prison from 2019 to 2020. For four months, she was separated from her newborn son before he could join her in a mother and baby unit.
While inside, she trained as a counsellor and later earned a degree in criminology and psychology. Sian now works for Beacon as an education and brief intervention lead, training professionals and warning of Merseyside's growing gambling crisis. BCT has seen an 810% increase in third-party referrals in the past year.
Sian is supporting a new public-health campaign launched this month by Chapter One and Liverpool City Council called "If I only knew". It uses lived experience to expose manipulative gambling design and marketing, aiming to educate young people. "It's getting worse because there's just so much of it now," Sian warned, highlighting a dangerous illegal market targeting under-18s.
