• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man who gave wedge of £10m lottery win to ex-wife lost it all in 10 years

Home> Community

Published 11:01 16 Jan 2023 GMT

Man who gave wedge of £10m lottery win to ex-wife lost it all in 10 years

This is a rags to riches then back to rags story

Daisy Phillipson

Daisy Phillipson

A man who gave away a wedge of his £10 million National Lottery win to his ex-wife has been left with nothing.

John McGuinness is a true rags to riches and then back to rags story, having started out his 30s earning just £150 a week as a hospital porter while living at his parents' house.

However, his life would change forever in 1996 when he bagged an eye-watering £10,055,900 jackpot and became Scotland's biggest ever lottery winner.

For a while, it seemed John was on top of the world.

Advert

He soon started splashing the cash, spending £140,000 on a Ferrari Modena Spyder, £500,000 on a house in Majorca and £1.3 million on a mansion in South Lanarkshire.

While these are pretty wise investments, John's venture into the world of football would lead to his unfortunate downfall.

A couple of years after his win, the footy fan decided to put money into Livingston FC - and we're not talking about small change here.

John ploughed around £4 million into the club, only for it to go into administration in 2004.

And since he had agreed to be liable for the bank loans, it meant that he picked up the debt when the team went under.

Advert

John in front of his South Lanarkshire home.
Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo

The lotto winner took the case to court, claiming he was duped by his former business partner and Livingston's ex-director, Dominic Keane, into making the investment.

Keane was accused of fraudulently securing £2.3 million in loans, overdrafts and guarantees, claiming there was a partnership between himself, John and business tycoon William Haughey.

But eventually John lost the case and he was left to pick up the pieces.

Alongside the Livingston debt, he was said to have given away £3 million of his winnings to family members, including £750,000 to his ex-wife.

Advert

In 2009, John revealed that he was struggling to make ends meet, telling the Daily Record: "I know in the eyes of the law nobody is to blame for me losing my money... but I know who I blame.

"I gave my money to Dominic Keane and now it's all gone and I've got nothing - someone must have taken it.

"If I had never met him, I'd still be sitting with about £5 million in the bank and I would have been quite happy enjoying a brilliant life.

He gave a wedge of cash to his ex-wife.
Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo

"I had the Ferraris, the designer wardrobe and the luxury holidays, I had everything I had ever dreamed about and more.

Advert

"Now I'm worried about how to pay for the shopping.

"The cars are all gone, the holidays are memories - everything disappeared with that one phone call from my mate."

John was eventually declared bankrupt, with his story proving to be yet another cautionary tale of the lottery winners' curse.

"The hardest part is knowing it wasn't my fault. It would have been easier to start again if I'd known I was the culprit," he explained.

"I might be an idiot but it wasn't all me. I gave money to a guy who I trusted and he made it all disappear.

Advert

"I don't regret winning the lottery for a second. My only regret is meeting Dominic Keane."

Featured Image Credit: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: National Lottery, Money, UK News

Daisy Phillipson
Daisy Phillipson

Daisy graduated from Kingston University with a degree in Magazine Journalism, writing a thesis on the move from print to digital publishing. Continuing this theme, she has written for a range of online publications including Digital Spy and Little White Lies, with a particular passion for TV and film. Contact her on [email protected]

X

@DaisyWebb77

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Man who won £10 million on lottery was back to old job in eight years after blowing entire fortune
  • UK's youngest lottery winner went on to have tragic story after winning £1.8 million
  • £9.7m lottery winner Michael Carroll suffers tragedy as sister he gave £1 million dies
  • Wife who cut off husband's penis explains why she did it and whether she regretted it 25 years later

Choose your content:

an hour ago
23 hours ago
a day ago
2 days ago
  • Getty Stock Images
    an hour ago

    Origin of '67' meme that has taken over thanks to Gen Alpha

    I'm definitely too old for this meme

    Community
  • instagram/@jemanddaz
    23 hours ago

    Woman explains all ways swinging ‘saved her marriage’

    They're now helping other couples to reconnect

    Community
  • (Getty Stock Images)
    a day ago

    Timeline of how weed affects your body as former addict shares what happened when he stopped

    Ever wondered what happens to your body after smoking weed?

    Community
  • Getty Stock
    2 days ago

    Therapist reveals why people still can't get over their ex-partner years later

    It's time to move on now...

    Community