Exclusive by Phil Coleman

Last updated at 08:28, Friday, 06 February 2009

Former Carlisle mayor Jayne Prewitt saw her world torn apart by an addiction to internet gambling.

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In a tearful interview, the former city councillor has told how she became obsessed with online poker – a habit that drove her to steal and lie as she struggled to hide gambling debts of more than £60,000.

At her lowest point, she resolved to end her personal nightmare, meticulously planning her own suicide.

Her fall from grace became painfully public this week when the 49-year-old – now called Yeomans – appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court and admitted stealing £38,000 from the South End Constitutional Club on St Nicholas Street, where she ran the bar.

She has told her story in the hope that it may serve as a warning to others.

“It started at the beginning of 2007,” said the former Labour Party stalwart, who was mayor from 1993 to 1994. “I don’t want to say too much about why it happened, but I started spending too much time on the internet. I was bored, basically.

“I don’t want to say anything about my husband because he’s a wonderful man, but we were having problems.

“At first it was fun, but it made no sense at all because I was useless at it.”

As her interest in poker deepened, Yeomans discovered the adrenaline buzz, the thrill of winning. At times, the jackpots ran into thousands.

“In the early days, I seemed to be winning. But as time went on, I started to get in deeper and deeper. You think you’re better at it than you actually are.

“It was mostly in the evenings. I couldn’t wait to get upstairs to the computer.”

Hooked on the adrenaline rush, Yeomans would spend several hours at a time glued to her computer, usually between 8pm and 1am. In one session, she lost £3,000.

“I had a couple of wins of that kind of amount, but as time went on the losses were mounting up,” she said. “It made no sense, because at the social club where I worked I was always the first to clamp down on gambling. But I got a buzz when I won, and you end up chasing the money you’ve lost.”

In her desperation, Yeomans began stealing money from her workplace, and lying to her bosses to cover it up.

She clung to the belief that she would win back the money she took and then secretly repay it.

“I’m not a stupid person, but online poker became my obsession. I should have realised sooner what was happening to me. It’s ruined my life.”

Yeomans became so desperate to clear her debts that she secretly remortgaged the family home, even forging her husband’s signature for a £25,000 loan.

At the South End Constitutional Club, committee members were becoming increasingly suspicious. Money that should have been banked was in the club safe, she said.

Yeomans finally hit rock bottom on November 17, 2008. She checked into the North Lakes Hotel in Penrith, with more than 200 pills hidden in her bag.

“When I took the overdose, it wasn’t a cry for help,” she said. “I’d meticulously researched the dosages. I fully intended to kill myself.

“I didn’t want to ever wake up. I left notes for everyone: for the coroner, for club officials, for my husband and family.

“I didn’t want to do it in Carlisle because people know me there, and that would have been awful for them.

“I was violently sick – they found me in the morning in my room, unconscious.

“The doctor said it was being sick that saved my life.

“Afterwards, I was really shocked to find that I was still here – I’d put so much work into working it all out.”

After treatment at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, Yeomans spent time as a voluntary patient in the Carleton Clinic in the city.

Recalling her addiction, she said: “It was an escape for me from a life I wasn’t happy in. After I got out of hospital, the first thing I did was rip the internet cable out.

“The only reason I’m talking about this is that I want to warn people of the dangers of internet gambling.

“I want to say to people: please don’t get into this because it turns your life upside down. If you feel this is happening to you, for goodness sake get help. It can kill you – it nearly killed me.

“At first, I was convinced I was okay. I’m not an addictive personality, I’ve never even been in a betting shop.

“But I wasn’t coping and it spiralled out of control. Now I’m nearly 50 and likely to go to prison. I’ve let so many people down. I feel so sorry for that. The only reason I’m not going to kill myself is that I’ve promised my family I won’t.”

After her court case, another former Carlisle mayor, Craig Johnston, of the RMT rail workers union, expressed his sadness at her predicament.

He said he found what has happened to Yeomans – now living in Falkirk, Scotland – “gut-wrenching”.

Mr Johnston said: “Jane was a first-class local councillor in this city. I can’t speak highly enough of her. What’s happened is tragic.”

Yeomans will be sentenced by a judge at Carlisle Crown Court on March 6.

First published at 05:26, Friday, 06 February 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk