A man who won £7.2million on the National Lottery while in prison for rape has been granted full access to the money. Iorworth Hoare was serving life for when he won in 2004.
Hoare, 70, has now gained full access to his £7.2million fortune after a 15-year legal dispute. He bought his winning ticket in August 2004, while on weekend leave from Leyhill open prison, Gloucestershire, reports The Mirror.
He was prevented from having access to his money and was understood to initially have a monthly allowance of £8,666 after he left jail in 2005.
The rest of the £7.2m could only be accessed with the consent of the fund trustees – a Home Office official, his lawyer and his accountant. He began legal action to win control of the money in 2008 and can now access it, plus interest. A Home Office source said: “There was nothing legally which could be done to stop him in the end.”
From 1973, Hoare spent 30 years in jail for one rape, three attempted rapes and two indecent assaults. He got life in 1989 for anothger attempted rape.
Hoare has used his money to build a property portfolio and art collection, including a Picasso sketch.
He now lives in a detached property in rolling countryside with his long-term partner. He was forced to leave a previous home in Ponteland, near Newcastle, in 2011, after “Leave or Die” was daubed on his gate.
He declined to comment when asked by the Mirror. He said: “I have nothing to say. I’m not saying owt.”
The Ministry of Justice said: “Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and will be recalled if they break the rules.”
The daughter of one of his victims has urged him to give his cash to charity, just as her late mother did with the damages he was forced to pay her.
Shirley Woodman was 59 when Hoare attempted to rape her as she walked through Roundhay Park, Leeds, in 1988. Hoare eventually had to pay her £50,000 damages and almost £800,000 in legal costs.
After learning that Hoare now has full access to his £7.2million jackpot, Shirley’s daughter Shelley Wolfson, 67, said: “She gave all the money away to charity and it’s what he should be doing with his money. He can do good with that money, like my mum did.”
Shirley, a former head teacher, died last year, aged 92.
She sued Hoare for damages but he used the law of limitations, which put a six-year limit on claims for compensation, to fight her claim. The determined mother-of-three spent four years pursuing her case through the courts, to the House of Lords.
In 2008, she won a ruling that, in cases of serious assault, the courts would have the discretion to extend the six-year limit.
In 2011, Shirley won her case in the High Court and was awarded £50,000 compensation, which she gave away, anonymously, to good causes.
Hoare also had to pay her legal bill of £537,885 and his own £239,583 costs.
Shelley said: “People thought my mum was going after his millions – she wasn’t. It was about getting the law changed. “She gave all the money away and it’s what he should be doing with his money. I certainly do think he should pay back the system like my mum wanted him to and help good causes.
“He can do good with that money like my mum did. She was wonderful.”
