Must Reads

Watch – Man smashed up betting shop after losing £500 on a ‘crack cocaine’ fixed-odds fruit machine

A furious punter smashed up a betting shop after losing £500 on a ‘crack cocaine’ fixed-odds fruit machine.

The man had been pouring his cash into a ‘high stakes gaming machine’, but after admitting defeat, he snapped and flew into a rage.

He decided it was time to leave the shop in Croydon, south London, but stopped at the door and walked back inside, picked up a seat and drove it into the electronic betting machine.

Image of suspect – Credit;Croydon police

The gambler can be seen repeatedly smashing the equipment, before pulling his backpack on and escaping.

Everything was caught on camera on March 4, with Croydon Police and detectives now appealing for information on him.

The man was black, in his thirties or forties, with short dark hair – and was wearing a white striped shirt with a green parka-style coat.

A force spokesman said: “At a betting shop in Thornton Heath on Monday, March 4, at around 8pm, a man who had been losing money in a high stakes electronic gaming machine appeared to get angry and smashed the screen of the machine with an object.

“He then walked out the shop. His anger was clearly directed at the machine in which he had lost so much money and no one else was involved.

“Police attended but no suspects have been arrested at this stage.”

Ben Gelblum

Contributing & Investigations Editor & Director of Growth wears glasses and curly hair cool ideas to: ben.gelblum (at) thelondoneconomic.com @BenGelblum

Published by