Inside Lottery’s 9 biggest scandals - fleeing UK and curse of top winners
The National Lottery has changed thousands of Brits' lives over the years, but it's not always been for the better.
More than 6,300 new millionaires have been created since its launch under Camelot in 1994, with Czech owner Allwyn taking over in 2024. However, for some of those winners, scooping the prize has led to their ultimate downfall. The organisation has been hit by a slew of scandals in recent years, from break-ups and regrettable investments to being accosted by strangers in the street, fuelling rumours of a jackpot "curse". Some fraudulent winners have even ended up behind bars.
Here we take a look at some of the biggest National Lottery scandals.
Crippling debt
Pete Kyle and his daughter celebrate (Jim Wileman/Apex/The Herald WS)Retired Royal Artillery gunner Pete Kyle scooped £5.1m when his numbers came up, and he declared at the time that the money was "going to change" his life. For a while, the money had a positive impact and at the top of Pete's shopping list that week was a fishing boat and some new tackle, so he could continue to enjoy his favourite pastime.
Pete promised to keep much of his life private and he did just that - secretly buying a mansion in an exclusive area of Plymouth. There, he knocked down an attractive coach house beside the property and replaced it with a large double garage for his plush cars. He installed a bar, a snooker room and all the mod-cons.
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But then, somehow, the money reportedly ran out and the house was repossessed. His private struggles became very public in April 2008, when it was claimed in the media that he had frittered his fortune away. Aged 55, he was reported to be living at a budget hotel, and The Sun claimed he owed money to creditors.
A few days after reports first emerged of Pete's downfall, the businessman who bought the luxury home the lottery winner had lived in told The Herald he was sick of opening the door to bailiffs. He also claimed thousands of pounds worth of bills had landed on his doorstep in just the past month.
The Herald reported that Pete was nowhere to be found - with one woman at the hotel saying at the time: "As far as I know he has gone to Spain." He hasn't been heard from since.
Driven out of UK
Roger Robar said he received more than 50 requests for help in the first few weeks (Unknown)Roger Robar said his life has become a suffocating hell and he felt as though he was boxed inside a coffin after winning £6million. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror back in 1999, he said he had already given out a quarter of his win, after receiving more than 50 requests for help in the first few weeks.
He said the mounting stress of being accosted every day drove him crazy, destroyed his marriage, and stopped him from having more children. He decided to up sticks and head for a quieter life in France after giving away £1.5m to complete strangers.
The Martinique-born chef said: "I'm worse than a prisoner. I'm living in a coffin. Even a coffin is more peaceful because people don't knock on it every five minutes saying, `Please help me'. All day people come to my restaurant, stop me in the street, run up to my car, phone me, wait outside my house and drive me completely crazy.
"I never realised people are so hungry, that they have so many problems. Each one has a sad story - "Roger I had a fire in my house', `Roger I need an operation', `Roger, my mother died and I have to go to the funeral in America', `My child is sick', `My husband's left me', and a million more."
It is not known if Roger left for France, but he was back in the news four years later in 2003 when he opened Roger's Seafood - a Caribbean-style restaurant - which is now closed.
Jackpot 'glitch'
Joan Parker-Grennan played online after buying an Instant Win Game ticket for £5 in 2015 (Albanpix.com,)Joan Parker-Grennan sued operator Camelot claiming she should get £1million, but it disputed her claim and said it was only liable to pay £10. She said there should be summary judgment in her favour because Camelot could not win at a trial, but a judge dismissed that application earlier this year.
Lawyers told how Ms Parker-Grennan, from Boston, Lincolnshire, had played online after buying an Instant Win Game ticket for £5 on August 25 2015. They said the premise of the game was that if a number in the "your numbers" section of the screen matched one in the winning numbers section, the two matching numbers would turn white, indicating that the player had won the prize "designated by those matching numbers".
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Camelot said that "at the point" Ms Parker-Grennan bought her ticket, its computer system predetermined her prize to be £10. But the judge was told that between August 25 and 26 2015, there had been a "technical issue" which could result in "different graphical animations" being displayed on some players' screens.
Two numbers with a designated prize of £10 were highlighted on Ms Parker-Grennan's screen with a message saying: "Congratulations, you have won £10." But the judge heard that two other matching numbers - with a designated prize of £1million - also appeared as a result of the technical issue.
Lawyers representing Camelot said Ms Parker-Grennan's summary judgment application should be dismissed.
Fraudulent ticket
Jon-Ross Watson, 31, was sentenced to 18 months in prisonMark Goodram, 38, and Jon-Ross Watson, 34, made national news in 2019 after hitting the jackpot from the £10 scratch card. However, Camelot refused to hand over the winnings when officials learned the debit card used to buy the scratch card did not belong to either of the men.
The pair were accused of buying five scratchcards, including the jackpot winner, without the consent of the credit cardholder. The lottery louts both denied three counts of fraud but changed their pleas to guilty as their trial at Bolton Crown Court was due to start
In 2021, Recorder Sarah Johnston sentenced Goodram to 19 months in prison and Watson to 18 months. She told the pair: "You must have thought all your Christmases had come at once. Your offending is rooted in greed and a total lack of respect for the property of others."
Break-ups
Colin Weir with ex-wife Chris after winning a EuroMillions jackpot (PA)Couple Colin and Christine Weir scooped the biggest ever lottery win - £161million - in 2011. But they split in 2019 after 38 years of marriage By the time Mr Weir died aged 71, in December of that year, the father of two had managed to get through half of his share in just eight years.
He had shared it widely among family and friends, including generous donations to his beloved Patrick Thistle FC, charities, a political party, trust funds for the common good and property investments.
His garage housed four luxury cars – a vintage Bentley Arnage, worth £10,000, a £28,250 three-year-old Jaguar F-Pace SUV, a £24,000 four-year-old Mercedes Benz E Class Estate and a 2019 Mercedes Benz V Class people carrier, valued at about £35,000.
At the time of his death, he lived in a £1.1million five-bedroom seafront home in Ayr, which he bought in June 2018 after his marriage split.
Rapist who won lottery
Iorworth Hoare scooped £7.2million while on weekend release from jail in 2004 (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)Iorworth Hoare won a whopping £7.2 million on the National Lottery in 2004 - while in prison after being convicted of attempted rape. He purchased the ticket at an Asda in Middlesbrough in 2004 while on weekend leave from Leyhill open prison, a year before he was freed.
He has spent 30 years in jail since 1973 for one rape, three attempted rapes and two indecent assaults. His victim successfully campaigned for the law to be changed so she could sue Hoare for damages.
Hoare, 70, has gained full access to his £7.2million fortune after a 15-year legal dispute. He was prevented from having unlimited access to his money under the conditions of his release on licence and was understood to initially have a monthly allowance of £8,666 after he left jail in 2005.
Regrettable investments
John McGuinness was forced to sell property to cover his costsScottish hospital porter John McGuinness won £10million on the National Lottery in 1997. Back then, he earned only £150 a week and still stayed at his mum and dad's house. However, he was quick to splurge after sharing £3 million among his family and £750,000 to his ex-wife.
Cars, holidays and a £200,000 wedding to his second wife were also included in his spending spree. But it was his £4million investment in Livingston Football Club that saw his downfall after the club later went into administration, as McGuinness had used his wealth to guarantee the club’s loans and was liable for its debts.
He claims that he was misled about his football club investment and following a lost legal battle he was forced to sell property to cover his costs.
Insider fraud
Edward Putman carried out a complex National Lottery scam (Vagner Vidal/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)Camelot was previously fined £3million after accepting a fraudulent claim for £2.5m from convicted rapist Edward Putnam. He was jailed for nine years for fleecing Camelot in Britain's biggest lottery fraud.
The rapist bricklayer conspired with Camelot insider Giles Knibbs who had access to vital information about unclaimed tickets. While on leave from prison, he claimed an unclaimed £2.5million ticket that had been bought in Worcestershire in March 2009.
Despite Camelot's concerns over the validity of the ticket, they shelled out. But his secret win was exposed after he claimed he was living in poverty to carry out a cynical benefits fraud. In 2019, he was jailed for nine years, after Knibbs took his own life in 2015.
Squandered fortunes
Michael Carrol outside Swaffham Magistrates in Norfolk (PA Archive/PA Images)Michael Carroll was still wearing an electronic tag and working as a binman when he claimed a £9.7million winning ticket in 2002, aged just 19. But his struggles with addiction saw him squander his fortune on booze, brothers, sex parties and expensive cars.
The former millionaire was eventually left homeless, bankrupt, and divorced after his wife left him. Despite losing his fortune and being forced to return to manual labour, Carroll insists he wouldn't do anything different, saying that winning the lottery: "was the best 10 years of my life for a pound".
He added: "I don't look back with any regrets, that's for sure, I wouldn't want to turn the clock back." He is now reportedly living a quiet life.
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