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A gambling addict has told ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 5 live he smashed up fixed-odd terminals after claiming a bookmarker refused to ban him.

Eric Baptista went on a violent rampage, taking a hammer to the fixed-odds machines and causing damage in five different branches of William Hill on seven separate occasions.

He was convicted of several counts of criminal damage and given a 12-month suspended jail sentence.

Bookmaker William Hill said:

"Eric Baptista's acts of vandalism were frightening for our staff and the fact he filmed his actions showed clear pre-meditation.

"In requesting a photograph and for the relevant forms to be completed our staff were merely trying to ensure they could apply a self-exclusion request effectively.

"As its name implies self-exclusion requires some commitment from the individual to tackle their addiction and customers have the option of using a helpline if they do not wish to visit a shop.

"We are now able to exclude individuals from all betting shops in an area across different brands but this does require a photograph and permission from the individual to share to apply this effectively.

"Mr Baptista refused to carry out this simple task and instead went on a senseless violent rampage in our shops over a three week period.

"When an individual self excludes our staff are trained to point them to the counselling and support services that are available but Mr Baptista showed no interest in taking up any of the support that is available."

This clip is originally from 5 live Daily on Thursday 28 September 2017.

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