A GRANDFATHER who won an £80,000 lottery prize is desperate to pay back the benefits.
Daniel Millar, from Motherwell, Scotland, picked up a windfall but said he was worse off than before after managing to clear the entire amount in just a few weeks.
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Daniel Millar won £80k on the lottery but blew it all within weeks Credit: mirrorpix
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The grandfather now says he is desperate to get the benefits backCredit: Mirrorpix
Now emaciated Daniel, who has long-term health problems, did not tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about the cash.
His benefits were later cut and he is now no longer eligible for income support, housing benefit and council tax relief despite now being penniless.
The pensioner pocketed the windfall in September 2017 and said it was all gone by November.
Now he is desperate to get his benefits back.
Daniel said: “I didn’t know I had to tell the Department for Work and Pensions, so I spent it all by giving my two sons and daughter, paying for two family holidays, decorating the house and buying clothes for myself and my wife.
“The money was all spent by November.
“I got a letter from the DWP in December saying I had to go to an appointment.
“I was then told that the tax authorities had reported me because I had £80,000 in the bank.
“That was true in September, but not when I went for the interview. I was overcharged by £7.
“Now they have cut off my benefits. The only income I have is my personal independence payment of £350 a month and my pension of £1.08 a week.
“I have to pay full rent and council tax so we have a little bit left to live on. My wife, who is my carer, gets £62 a week.
“She has to put that aside to pay other bills like gas, electricity and phone.”
Wife Bridget added: “The DWP said we are not entitled to any money. They say we have deprived ourselves of capital and are not eligible for benefits.
“In the paperwork, they ask about a change in circumstances, but they don’t specify what that means.
“We just don’t know what to do.”
Victims of the ‘curse’ of the lottery
MANY of us dream of winning the lottery big, but what if you actually did? Surely it’s all flash and glamor photos, and maybe the odd movie premiere? That was not the case with this group, which – despite raking in millions of pounds – ended up in the dumps.
King of cocaine
Self-proclaimed King of Chavs Michael Carroll was wearing an electronic ankle chip when he scooped £9.7million in the National Lottery in 2002.
He was 19 at the time and squandered his fortune on a six-bedroom villa in Norfolk, which he equipped with a swimming pool and a racetrack.
Due to his drug addiction, Michael spent £2,000 a day on cocaine and ended up broke.
He previously said, “The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lotto money than I do.”
Michael was left by his wife Sandra just a month after their wedding in 2003 after she was disgusted by his incessant partying. She also accused him of cheating on her with sex workers, walking away with a £1.4 million settlement.
He was in jail for failing to comply with a drug treatment order, and by February 2010 he was declared bankrupt and seeking job-hunting assistance.
Michael was reportedly found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019 after losing his entire fortune.
Queen of surgery
Jane Park was the youngest Briton ever to win the EuroMillions when she hit the £1m jackpot in 2013 aged 17.
At the time of her win, she was a temporary administrator earning £8 an hour, living in a two-bedroom flat in Edinburgh that she shared with mum Linda.
But things took a turn for the worse when she felt “empty” after winning and spent £4.5k on a 34B to 36FF breast operation and a few thousand more on a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) in Turkey.
Jane was left fearing for her life after having a severe reaction to anesthesia in 2017 and developing sepsis.
Two years later, she started her OnlyFans to whip up pictures of herself topless, followed by more plastic surgery to get her “dream body” with liposuction and corrective BBL.
Now 28 and wiser, she believes winning the lottery has cursed her life and wishes it had never happened.
Amusingly, she calls herself ‘B&M Molly-Mae’.
Love and loss
Gillian Bayford’s marriage of eight years was destroyed when she and ex-husband Adrian scooped £148 million in the 2012 EuroMillions.
Their lives changed overnight and put such a strain on their relationship that it completely fell apart 15 months after their victory.
Both Gillian, 50, and Adrian blamed the stress of their incredible win as the main cause of their split.
In the decade since their divorce, Gillian has become a mum to another man at 48, bought a £1.2million mansion and started a property business.
“Regarding [my daughter] she’s worried that I’m not a lottery winner, I’m just a mum,” Gillian told The Sun. “Some things are easier because of money, but it doesn’t really change anything.
“You still have to change a diaper or deal with being sick no matter what you’re worth.”
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Source: HIS Education