The UK regulator has written to numerous licenced operators – bookmakers and online casinos – asking for their help in “identifying more information” in relation to 10 individuals who took their own lives.

Commission chiefs are seeking information on whether gambling firms had accounts open with the victims at the time.

The list of those who died is understood to include the former footballer Joey Beauchamp. The 50-year-old ex-West Ham and Oxford United star was found by his brother in Kidlington on 19 February. 

Oxford Coroner’s Court later heard Mr Beauchamp had endured a “difficult couple of years”, in which he was sectioned and his mother died. 

Despite relatives’ concerns, he had declined help from mental health services in the weeks before his death, but had also struggled with gambling. 

According to the Earnings and More newsletter https://earningsandmore.substack.com/, the Commission letter – believed to have been sent to the owners of well-known bookmakers including the likes of PaddyPower and Betfair – lists Mr Beauchamp among 10 names of suicide victims where the deaths may have also had a link to gambling.

And the watchdog tells bookmakers that “at this stage we simply ask (that) you review your customer database and advise whether you have any records of a customer relationship with any of these individuals”.

“Given the limited nature of the information we have provided,” the letter adds, “you may want to conduct open-source or other checks to cross-reference what you find.”

The Commission then warns that if an operator were to find evidence of a customer relationship with any of the 10, it wants more information regarding how much the individual may have lost.

It further asks for “Clarification if you were aware of any concerns about Gambling related harm” and “Clarification as to whether you were aware that an individual had taken their own life.”

The issue of gambling and suicide has long been a contentious one.

A Public Health England (PHE) study published almost a year ago suggested that gambling can “increase the likelihood of some people thinking about, attempting or dying from suicide”. 

A key statistic from that report suggesting that people with a gambling disorder were 19 times more at risk from dying from suicide – though this has been disputed.