A JACKPOT winner dubbed the “Lotto Lag” when put behind bars is now working as a painter and decorator after a barrage of setbacks.
Lee Ryan was the first seven-figure National Lottery winner to go on to be sent to prison, after scooping his £6.5million windfall.
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Lee Ryan was dubbed the ‘Lotto Lag’ after a jail term for handling stolen carsCredit: Peter Jordan – The Sun
He lavished his new riches on a mansion, supercars and an aeroplane before losing his fortune and finding himself on the streets.
Yet he has now been speaking about turning his life around, working as a labourer – and insisting: “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Lee has previously described the millions he won in 1996 as “a curse” due to the turmoil in his life that followed.
But he now calls himself as “a spiritual billionaire”, the Mirror reports, while renovating an upmarket home in Chiswick, west London.
He previously pocketed £6.5million on the Lotto in March 1995 – though at the time he was awaiting trial for handling stolen cars.
He and then-girlfriend Karen Taylor were living with their three children in a council house in Leicester.
Later that same year he was jailed for 18 months, serving nine – earning himself the “Lotto Lag” nickname.
When freed, he went to work splurging out on a £1million country mansion and a fleet of luxury cars including a Bentley, a Ferrari, a Porsche and a BMW.
Each had a personalised number plate – LEE 1, LEE 2, LEE 3 and LEE 4.
His new home was kitted out with a swimming pool, tennis court, sauna, Jacuzzi and games room – while he also bought two Ducati superbikes, a £125,000 plane and a £235,000 Bell JetRanger helicopter.
LOST £2 MILLION
Yet he and Karen split in 2003 and he went on to lose £2million in failed business ventures and property investments, after moving to Kyrgyzstan in central Asia with new girlfriend Jyldyz Djangaracheva.
He has now revealed he spent five years living on the streets, with nothing but a sleeping bag.
Twice-divorced Lee, 63, has opened up on how he battled back – despite upheavals such as having to hire an ex-SAS veteran as a bodyguard following an alleged plot to kidnap one of his children.
He also told how a housekeeper stole £40,00 from him, an arsonist targeted his £145,000 Ferrari and the 40-acre grounds of his former mansion saw a £15,000 caravan burned down.
And he remembered plotting an armed robbery at the time of his win, only to instead turn in his shotgun as part of a police amnesty and avoid a potential lifetime sentence.
Lee, now living in Twickenham in south-west London, insisted in the new interview: “Apart from death you can’t get much more rock bottom than being homeless, so I tested myself and it’s all good.
“Sometimes even now I spend my nights in tents just to remind myself that I’m bomb-proof, I’ve gone through it all.
“Now I’m just looking for that middle ground where you still have to strive for what you want, rather than just having it handed to you.”
He also described his post-jackpot lifestyle as a “crazy experience but one I’ll never forget”, while declaring: “At this point I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”
Apart from death you can’t get much more rock bottom than being homeless, so I tested myself and it’s all good
Lee Ryan
Lee still buys lottery tickets – his biggest triumph since 1995 being £5,413 in a EuroMillions draw – but added: “If I win again, nobody will hear about it.”
The first National Lottery draw was held on November 19 1994 when seven winners shared a jackpot of £5,874,778.
The largest amount ever to be won by a single ticket-holder was £42million, won in 1996.
Gareth Bull, a 49-year-old builder, pocketed £41million in November 2020 and ended up knocking down his bungalow to make way for a luxury manor house with a pool.
The biggest jackpot ever for grabs was £66million in January last year, shared between two fortunate ticket-holders.
Meanwhile, Dukinfield near Manchester has been identified as the luckiest place in the UK to play the lottery.
The town landed the Millionaire Street prize in June handing residents £55,555 each – after the area also took a cut of a £3million Postcode Millions windfall five years ago.
Britain’s biggest lottery winners include Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucestershire, who scooped £184million in a EuroMillions draw in May last year.
A previous winner who took home £170million remained anonymous.
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Lee says he’s turned his life around after a long series of post-jackpot setbacksCredit: Peter Jordan – The Sun
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He spent five years sleeping rough before settling in south-west London as a decoratorCredit: Collect
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He was met by his then-wife Karen when leaving Stafford Prison in 1996Credit: PA:Press Association
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He had been one of the first multi-million-pound National Lottery winnersCredit: Rex
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Source: newstars.edu.vn