UNITED KINGDOM – As reported by the BBC: "A man serving a life sentence for attempted rape has won £7m (US$12.8 million) on the National Lottery.
"Iorworth Hoare, was on release from Leyhill open prison in Gloucestershire when he bought his winning ticket for Saturday's Lotto Extra draw.
"…Hoare, who has a history of previous sex crimes, including rape, was one of three winners to share Saturday's £21m Lotto Extra jackpot.
Iorworth Hoare's winnings could earn him interest of over £163;6,000 a week if he makes sound investments, the National Lottery said.
But prison regulations limit the amount that inmates can spend and the 52-year-old convicted criminal will be barred from using more than £163;14 a week from his fortune, on cigarettes, Mars bars, writing materials, telephone cards and other incidentals stocked in prison shops.
The rapist, who has already been in jail for 36 years, has been moved from a low-security open prison to a high-security cell in another jail hundreds of kilometres away amid fears that he could be attacked by jealous prisoners.
Hoare, who has a record of good conduct ever since starting his sentence, had been given weekend leave and was staying in a Home Office hostel in Middlesbrough, 400km north of London.
On Saturday morning, he popped into a newsagent's shop and paid £163;1 for a lottery ticket. He chose the numbers 3, 5, 8, 18, 28 and 48.
That evening, back in the sitting room of the hostel, soon after finishing his dinner, he was watching television when he saw his numbers come up, one by one.
He gave a whoop of delight and told two other prisoners about his huge win. 'I'm set for life,' he said.
News of Hoare's win spread and within an hour, two officers from a police station next to the hostel knocked on his door.
The officers found him packing his suitcase and police say they believe he was planning to abscond.
Hoare has been told he will no longer be given any further weekend leave, for fear he will buy a plane ticket and escape overseas.
The coal miner's son first went to jail for three years in 1973 for raping a woman in Leeds. After being freed, he sexually assaulted a teacher and a housewife in separate incidents and was jailed for four years each time.
After serving his sentences, he raped a 60-year-old woman, again in Leeds, and was caught after he sent in his photograph - with his address and telephone number - to a popular television quiz show, asking if he could be a contestant. Hoare was jailed for life in May, 1989.
Mrs Edna Petersen, director of the charity Justice for Victims of Crime, told The Straits Times: 'It is outrageous that criminals still serving their sentences are allowed to gamble by buying lottery tickets.
'His victims should sue him, to get the money.'
"Under Home Office guidelines, prisoners on temporary release from jail are allowed to play the lottery and can claim a winning prize.
"…Tory leader Michael Howard said there seemed to be 'something very odd in the arrangements" that allowed prisoners to play the lottery.'
"…Hoare, originally from Leeds, is nearing the end of his life sentence after being jailed in 1989 for attempted rape.
"He was also jailed several times for a string of sex attacks during the 1970s and 1980s. He received a seven-year sentence for rape in 1983.
"…Dr Ian Edwards, lecturer in criminal law at the University of East Anglia, says victims are entitled to sue for any loss or harm they have suffered from their attacker…"
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