The BBC has taken down an online article after criticism that it appeared to frame a former care home manager as a victim, despite his conviction for stealing £250,000 from residents to fund a gambling addiction.
The piece focused on Ben Howard, who was sentenced in 2024 to three years and four months in prison after admitting to defrauding vulnerable residents of more than a quarter of a million pounds. Readers expressed outrage, arguing he had been “portrayed as the victim” in the report.
In the article, Howard said he struggled to seek support for his addiction prior to committing the offences, claiming he felt judged because of his sexuality.
‘Someone would say, “Do you have a wife? Do you have a girlfriend?”,’ Howard told the BBC in the now-unpublished story.
‘It makes you fearful to say, “Actually, I’ve got a boyfriend”. You don’t open up as much. You just close off.’
The broadcaster removed the piece, stating it ‘didn’t meet our usual editorial standards’, shortly after being approached about the public reaction.
A link shared by BBC Sussex on X drew heavy criticism. One user wrote: ‘He stole money from vulnerable people. This man isn’t a victim he’s a thief,’ while another commented: ‘He’s the true victim here, isn’t he? Obviously not the vulnerable people from whom he stole A QUARTER OF A MILLION POUNDS.’
The report referenced research from Bournemouth University, which found that some LGBT+ individuals feared discrimination when seeking help for gambling addiction. The study surveyed 31 LGBT participants aged 20 to 59 across the UK.
Howard, who is listed as a speaker at an upcoming workplace event at the NEC Birmingham, previously stated in his biography that he ‘has experienced 14 years of gambling harms, finding recovery in 2020 through the help of GambleAware commissioned treatment and support network’.
Court proceedings revealed Howard used residents’ bank cards to withdraw cash from ATMs, impersonated them to access accounts, redirected bank statements to his address, and organised fake trips and events to collect additional funds. The offences took place over nearly three years, between September 2017 and August 2020.
He was exposed after a resident requested access to their finances, prompting his resignation and eventual surrender to police. Officers said he ‘showed remorse’ after gambling away £147,000 in just two days.
Following sentencing at Northampton Crown Court, Detective Constable Emma England said Howard had ‘took full advantage’ of the vulnerabilities of those in his care.
After serving 10 months, Howard was released from prison. He later told the BBC that being jailed ‘was the worst and best thing that happened to me and it forced me into recovery’. He now works with Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard, an organisation supporting LGBTQ+ individuals.
In a statement published on its Corrections and Clarifications page, the BBC said: ‘We posted an online article about a gay man who said he felt unable to access gambling addiction services and some research into others who felt similar. The article did not meet our editorial standards.
‘It included the man’s criminal offending but did not provide sufficient context or take account of the likely impact on victims of his contribution. We have removed the article from the website.’