THE parents of a man who took his life after battling a gambling addiction have said he did not get the help he needed.

James Brazier, 25, died shortly after 4.35pm on August 4 after leaping from a footbridge above the railway line at Chalkwell as a train was passing through, having lost £400 at Genting Casino earlier in the morning.

At his inquest yesterday, coroner’s officer Nick Hale Chelmsford Coroners’ Court Mr Brazier had a ten-year history of gambling problems which his parents had supported him through and, where possible, paid off his gambling debts.

He added on the afternoon of Mr Brazier’s death, he had transferred £2,000 from his parents’ bank account before travelling from his home in Pitsea to Genting Casino on Western Esplanade, Westcliff, via taxi.

He said: “There was nothing unusual in his behaviour or demeanour and he was captured on CCTV at 1.55pm approaching the bar, where he ordered a drink and went to one of the gaming machines, where he appeared to place a bet and left the area and casino at 2.53pm.

“Records show he lost £400 on an electronic roulette machine.”

He added Mr Brazier then sent text messages to his partner Felicity Clarke, with which he has a 21-month-old son, and his father Paul, 50, who he worked with at Inflite’s Aerospace Surface Treatments in Chelmsford, shortly after 3am.

Psychologist Dr Pranveer Singh of the South Essex Mental Health Parternship Trust told the court Mr Brazier had been referred to the crisis team following an overdose, as well as being diagnosed with pathological gambling and substance misuse.

He added Mr Brazier had been referred to a therapist, but was challenged by Mr Brazier’s mother Kasey, after admitting he did not know there was a 12-week waiting list for said therapist.

Explaining her son had become “despondent” waiting for help, she said: “James took control of his own help in the end and contacted GamCare (a gambling support charity) and went to see them.

“But three weeks after he died, the counsellor phoned up to say why hasn’t he come to see us, because no-one had even told these people he’d died.”

The inquest was adjourned until Wednesday, December 16, pending the publication of a Root Cause Analysis Report by the trust.