Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today slammed a senior member of the ruling party for running up a gambling debt of more than RM7.1 million in a British casino.

"A leader should lead by example. In this instance (former Sabah state chief minister) Osu Sukam has failed," Abdullah told reporters.

"A leader must be sincere and honest and refrain from activities that are banned by Islam and that can stain the party."

Osu Sukam, a member of Umno in timber-rich Sabah, chalked up the debt when the Ritz Hotel Casino in London allowed him to gamble on credit.

Abdullah said he was disappointed with Osu and his actions had tarnished his credentials as a political leader.

Ritz Hotel Casino obtained a judgment from a British court to recover the debt and it later applied to the Kota Kinabalu High Court to enforce the British court order on Osu.

But the court on Tuesday delivered a blow to the casino's bid to recover the money when High Court Judge Ian Chin dismissed the application in a hearing.

"The world would be a much nicer place if no country would allow the recovery of a judgment for a gambling debt which was the result, invariably, of the debtor being enticed to gamble on credit and beyond his means," the judge was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Chin also said a law should be enacted to allow a gambler to sue a casino for having enticed him to gamble beyond his means.