The British National Lottery has been embroiled this week in a controversy that has outraged many after Iorworth Hoare, convicted of rape in 1988, has gained full access to his fortune of 7.2 million pounds from a lucky draw whose boat he has been fighting for years to use.
Before the news, the daughter of one of his victims, has urged him to donate his money to charities. And it is that her late mother did the same with the damages that Hoare had to pay her as part of the rape sentence. The affected woman was 59 years old when Hoare tried to rape her while she was walking through Roundhay Park, Leeds, in 1988.
After twenty years, Shirley won her fight to change the law and be able to claim compensation from Hoare, who ultimately had to pay £50,000 in damages and almost £800,000 in court costs, compensation that could not have minimized the damage. done to the life of the victim.
In 2004 Hoare was sentenced to life imprisonment although he was enjoying a weekend leave that earned him the lottery ticket that would end up giving him a fortune of 7.2 million pounds that now the court has decided to fully open for his free provision, raising strong criticism among relatives of the victims and entities.
From the Ministry of the Interior they assure that after years of war in the courts for the blocking of his accounts, Hoare has achieved his objective: "In the end nothing could be done legally to prevent him," a British government source acknowledged to The Mirror.
The rapist has been using his fortune little by little to build a portfolio of properties and an art collection with works by Picasso, and is even living in a large villa with his longtime partner thanks to the substantial Lottery jackpot National. In 2011 he had to leave his old house after receiving threats in the form of graffiti that said “Leave or Die”.
For its part, the Ministry of Justice has limited itself to recalling that "criminals on probation are subject to strict conditions" and that "they will be called to court if they break the rules", a response that has left many dissatisfied and outraged knowing that Hoare now freely disposes of his fortune.
