A gambler who said he was being blackmailed cheated a casino out of tens of thousand of pounds.

Father of three Philip Patel, who said he wanted to stop armed blackmailers releasing pictures of him with another woman, was jailed for two and a half years.

Patel, of Worth Road, Pound Hill, Crawley, told police his "overwhelming" passion for the roulette wheel had regularly won and lost him fortunes and eventually left him facing the wrath of unlicensed gambling dens demanding he settle his debts.

Southwark Crown Court heard that photographs were taken of him with another woman as his financial problems mounted. Patel, 36, felt he had no option but to pass a stolen cheque to raise funds after being threatened.

He finally cashed a cheque for £31,000 at Napoleon's Casino in Leicester Square, London, after becoming scared he might be shot if he disobeyed. But his addiction was so overpowering he could not resist the temptation to gamble away most of it at the tables.

Patel admitted obtaining property by deception. Two further counts of attempted deception involving stolen cheques for more than £19,500, which he denied, were ordered to lie on the file.

Judge Andrew Goymer said that by ordinary standards the amounts of money he had gambled with over the years were "unbelievable." The court heard that by the time the cheque Patel presented for £31,285 had been cleared, he had already deposited another two at Napoleon's.

But when the casino was told there had been a mistake and the first was a forgery, they decided to hold on to the others to cover their losses. Alex Lewis, prosecuting, said when he was confronted by management, Patel pretended "genuine surprise" and asked for time to sort matters out.

Later that evening, after being seen outside the premises with a group of men, he told staff he was afraid. He then became hysterical and spoke of "men with guns" waiting for him. The barrister said the casino subsequently learnt the other two cheques had also been stolen and contacted the police.

After his arrest, Patel told officers of his fears of being "seriously hurt or killed" if he did not obey armed debt collectors who were put on his trail by unlicensed gambling dens.

Mr Lewis added: "He said he had already been beaten and he was being blackmailed and threatened because of photographs of him in the company of a female he had met inside a casino, but he said he would not go into detail."

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