Rapist wins £7m on lottery
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Your support makes all the difference.A rapist serving life in prison has scooped £7 million on the National Lottery.
Iorworth Hoare, 52, was on temporary release staying at a Middlesbrough bail hostel when his numbers came up in last Saturday's Lotto Extra draw.
According to the Sun newspaper, Hoare began a series of sex attacks while he was still in his 20s and was sentenced to a total of 18 years between 1973 and 1987.
His catalogue of crimes include one rape, two attempted rapes and three indecent assaults.
Hoare, a coal miner's son, formerly of Seacroft Gate, Leeds, was jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court in 1989 for attempting to rape a 60-year-old woman in a park in the city.
Bizarrely, he was trapped by a photograph he sent to a television station in a effort to be chosen for the Winner Takes All quiz show.
He was on weekend leave from Middlesbrough's South Bank bail hostel when he won his £7,039,469 fortune.
Under Home Office guidelines prisoners in open conditions - on a day release or community project - are allowed to take part in the lottery and claim prizes. They can also play the football pools and buy Premium Bonds.
Before the win Hoare was a category D prisoner at Leyhill open prison and was spending weekend leave at Middlesbrough.
Other prisoners told the Sun Hoare looked "really smug" when he told them of his luck and reportedly said: "I'm made for life now."
He added: "I'm going to be sound for the rest of my life. I'll do well from here on in till the day I die."
A Prison Service spokesman confirmed last night that a prisoner had won the lottery.
He said: "We are aware a prisoner on release on a temporary licence has participated in the lottery and we understand that he has won a substantial amount."
Following the win, Hoare was moved to a closed prison for "security and his own safety".
It is understood a reassessment of his security status is being carried out.
According to the Sun, Hoare was once told by a judge: "Every moment you are at liberty, some woman is at risk."
It is reported his most brutal crimes were in 1983 when he indecently assaulted a teacher and raped a 37-year-old housewife.
His attacks were described in court as "ferocious, terrifying and degrading".
It is believed Hoare wed in Wakefield Cathedral in 1993 but his current marital status is unknown.
National Lottery operator Camelot said it could not confirm or deny the names of the winners.
A spokeswoman said: "We had three lotto extra winners and one lottery winner. One of the lotto extra winners has still not claimed.
"The other winners were all no-publicity winners so we are unable to release any details about them."
Hoare is not the first lottery winner to be serving time.
Former dustman Michael Carroll, 21, of Downham Market, Norfolk, who earlier won a £9.7 million jackpot, was jailed last month for five months for various drugs offences after he breached a drugs testing and treatment order.
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