A small-time criminal who won £6.5 million (US$10.2 million) in the UK National Lottery but ended up homeless told yesterday how the win had been a "curse".
Lee Ryan spent two years sleeping rough after blowing his fortune.
He now rents a two-room flat and earns less than £10,000 a year — but insists that he is happier today than when he was a millionaire.
Mr. Ryan, 54, hit the jackpot in March 1995. At the time he was awaiting trial for handling stolen cars.
Nicknamed the Lotto Lag, he was jailed for 18 months for the offence six months after landing the jackpot.
The first British lottery millionaire to end up in prison, he served nine months of his sentence.
He says he was "a monster then" and his win saved him from descending into serious crime, claiming he had been on the verge of carrying out an armed robbery.
Mr. Ryan, then a used car trader, won £6,527,880 with girlfriend Karen Taylor just 17 weeks after the launch of the National Lottery.
At the time, the couple lived in a council house in Braunston, Leicester, with their three children.
They married that summer and Mr Ryan splashed out on a £1 million country mansion and a fleet of cars, including a Bentley, a Ferrari, a Porsche and BMW with personalised number plates LEE 1, LEE 2, LEE 3 and LEE 4.
He also bought two Ducati superbikes, a £125,000 plane and a £235,000 Bell JetRanger helicopter.
He was later fined for using the aircraft to buzz homes.
In a newspaper interview yesterday, Mr Ryan told how he had prayed to God to make him a millionaire while serving a prison sentence in 1986 for stealing cars.
"My cellmate warned me to be careful what I wished for," he said. "The money was cursed."
He and Miss Taylor split in 2003 after he cheated on her.
He moved to London, where he met 24-year-old student Jyldyz Djangaracheva, known as Jika.
They moved to her homeland, the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, with their baby daughter.
But Mr. Ryan lost around £2 million in failed business ventures and property investments.
One venture to build a fish farm in the central Asian republic fell foul of local mafia bosses.
He claims crooked officials cheated him out of his cash in another scheme, a text message-based lottery in China.
By 2010, he had divorced Jika and returned to Britain with nothing but a sleeping bag. He says he spent the next two years sleeping rough — on park benches, in cemeteries or in doorways.
He added, "I travelled all over the country. I bumped into what I call 'living angels' where I am not asking anybody for anything and someone turns up saying, 'Are you all right, mate?' "
Mr. Ryan now lives in a rented flat in South London — where he claims to take in the homeless as guests — and works as a cameraman.
He said he would probably have ended up spending life in prison if his lottery numbers had not come up and revealed that he had once threatened Miss Taylor with a shotgun.
At the time of the lottery win, he claimed, he was in the advanced stages of planning an armed robbery — "a really big job" — in Belgium.
He said he had planned to carry a loaded gun, adding, "If they [the robbery victims] wanted to play silly b*****s, they'd get it in the knees at the very least."
He added, "I'm not that person now but I was a monster then.
"There's also no doubt that the lottery saved me as a person and saved the lives of my potential victims. The win saved me from that fate — and someone else from being my victim."
Yesterday, Miss Taylor, 55, said she was no longer in contact with Mr. Ryan, adding, "Neither are our children, as far as I know."
She declined to comment further.
The couple's youngest child, Nile, 26, also declined to comment.
In May 2001, ex-RAF engineer Nigel Gardner-Hale became the second lottery millionaire to be jailed.
Mr. Gardner-Hale, who won £3.4 million on a Lucky Dip ticket, was arrested when police raided a party at his home in Maesteg, South Wales.
He admitted possessing 44 ecstasy tablets, supplying the drug, and letting guests smoke cannabis.
He was jailed for 12 months.
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I wish I was "cursed" with millions of dollars.
hes just the other thug
Yikes, his drama is far from over.
I wonder if people lost all common sense , when they win the jackpots.
"Who in their right mind purchases a helicopter & a plane on a $10 mil jackpot win?"
Someone who is delusional about their wealth. This not only applies to lottery winners but to professional athletes as well.
Prime example,if you don,t play you don,t win anyone can win even an idiot.
Yeah, he was spending money as if he had won a 300 million dollar jackpot instead of the 10 million dollar one
I guess I should remove 'building a fish farm in Kyrzygstan' from my bucket list. Probably not a big priority.
Poor guy. Hope is finding grace and compassion.
i hope i never have to lose that much to discover being thankful for what i have
How come people who made bad decisions before winning the lottery make bigger blunders after then say the money was cursed?? How come they cannot take responsibliity and say hey I was someone who makes bad decisions anyway and the money just made me make even worse decisions
Totally Drenick- The NBA for one is littered with retired players who made gzimillions and are almost penniless. One such player was a teammate of Michael Jordan during their unprecedented reign in the 90's, l read where he also bought a plane* as if that is the status symbol of success. Read where he was crying in court over a decision that went his way, he recouped some of his money but the scars remain. The other nut played in the NFL, was on the 49's squad, won a ring and started bad mouthing teams he ended up with... Last l heard, he had fallen on hard times as well.Mr Walker who played for the Celtics owed the Las Vegas Casino a few hundred thousand in unpaid bills. It's crazy out there.
That's the thing about sudden wealth; it doesn't create character, it exposes your character. The people who say "the lottery was a curse for me" like this guy are typically those who have impulse control problems and/or major issues; so, they spend their money like it's going out of style, thinking it will buy them happiness & fill in the holes in their lives. It doesn't, and it also creates new problems they can't handle.
I would be scared to death to win the Mega Millions or PowerBall, though I do buy a ticket of each. I've read many places that at such high odds buying more than one ticket does you no good! I tell myself I would avoid buying ridiculous things like planes and giraffes but I know I'd have to spent a fortune to get a gated estate with security and other measures to protect my family...people would want to home invade or grab your kids and crazy crap like that.
But you never know what changes you. Its like as a man, and a married man for 28 years, I have no idea what its like to have gorgeous women, even celebrity women all of a sudden be open to what ever I want. Rock Stars, upper echelon athletes, rich guys in general, I can't see how they resist temptation. I'd want to give to the poor, but it would only be a temporary stopgap. If the government can't devise a solid plan to get the desperately poor out of the trap they are in or have been in generation after generation throw more money at it, especially MY money, does not seem wise. My own siblings, uncles and aunts etc... would have a one shot financial boost - no one will be living off me and not appreciate it and better themselves after an initial gift.
Miss Fortune sure knows how to track anybody who has been been visited by Lady Luck. She must be her evil twin sister. The UK guy is lucky because some winners end up dead
Me too. Those tragic stories of lotto winners could be avoided if one won the lottery, he/she should carry on as normally a life as he/she had been doing, then figure out in a careful manner what one should do with that windfall of money in about a couple of months or maybe years. These lotto winnings remind me after her defeat of Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2004, in a couple of interviews, she said, she had wired the money she had won to her bank and "forgot" all about it. Since, then, besides her other attributes, that attitude has enabled her to become one of the most successful athletes to date, at least in monetary terms. Maybe, if lotto Jackpot winners adopted a similar attitude, they could be very successful in managing their monetary gains.
Is it just me or does it seem like the UK has a higher proportion of morons that win?
Sure seems like it.
Anyway, yeah you should live modestly on something like a $10 mil jp win. If that's all you have, you're not wealthy, just upper middle class.
Planes, Ferraris and such are toys meant for BILLIONAIRES. They never stop to think that an oil change on a Ferrari is like $750. Fuel and a pilot for your plane can run over $100,000 a year. Don't forget property taxes...ugh I can't even imagine how badly your local government would bend you over! Lol
Oh and last thing, just stay the hell away from running any type of business! The only exception is that maybe it's OK if you've ran successful businesses for many years already, but if you have no experience just say NO!
The UK guy is lucky because some winners end up dead
If this was the story of my life i would jump off a bridge with no water below it.
Great question, noise-gate. Perhaps a wealthy individual who thinks of only/mainly them self. This young adult [at time of win] person should have imagined the $10M net income being evenly divided by FIVE people (his immediate family). Then he would have understood that he only had up to $2M to IMMEDIATELY spend on a new family: trusts, living trust, pour-over will, $1M life insurance policy for he and also $1M for his wife, 5-bedroom house, two large fully-loaded medium priced vehicles, groceries, utilities, home electronics, home furnishings, school tuition, dental insurance, health insurance, weekly family-bonding outing afternoon, and clothing. All purchases after that first 12 months should have only been spent from some INTEREST off the remaining $8M+ principle -- working off 55-year+ budget that all members of this immediate family lived until age 100 years old.
Of course, it is possible that this woman knew about this man's violent and criminal past/present [and possibly current leaning] BEFORE she lived with him and unwisely created three children with him!
Exactly! LOL
It's only a curse if you're a fool who tries to live like a billionaire. If you win and live a middle class lifestyle you'll be OK.
some great posts i wish i could reply to you all, try wishing to be " blessed" by a $1 mill win. i hear blessings are better than curses.
and Miss Fortune and Lady Luck being sisters, im stealing that
No one is happy to be back broke! What a provarication by this dude and all the others who say it! He would take the money again if it was offered!
80% of people are broke because they have no genetic tendencies to save or be a tight wad. Keeping money is a born talent just like dunking a basketball or singing really well.
You want to meet born tight wads that would keep a big lottery win? Get up early on Saturday mornings and hit the garage sale circuit. you will see the same savers, coupon clippers, and tight wads week after week after week.
You want to meet born spenders that would lose a big lottery win? Get out on Saturday nights at the big chain restaurants and watch those same people spend like crazy week after week after week.
Of course i understand the commercial value of stories like this because envious broke spenders enjoy hearing when others lose it all.
P.S Extra: Speaking of the effects of big money in a negative connotation for the whole country instead of one person consider this. All those millions of people out chowing down on meat & oil have brought the country to bankruptsy. Half the trillion dollar a year over budget spending we do is made up of heart stints and heart bypass surgeries given for free to seniors and others on Medicare/Medicade that we can't afford with the taxes taken in. These people could have prevented this with a plant based diet. Kennedy once asked what you can do for your country. How about eating better not only for your health but for the financial health of the country? When you give in to your taste buds long enough eventually its going to feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest.
Okay, I'm immersing myself in the Power of Positive thinking and LOA so I'm 99% sure I'm not allowed to call this guy a dumba$$, besides, even if I could, apparently how it works is that calling him a dumbass lottery winner will only bring more dumbass lottery winners and while I do find these stories somewhat entertaining, overall their stupidity gets on my nerves.
Questions/Observations
Amen. Honestly, I am so sick and tired of these jackpot winners claiming that money is a curse. The money is NEVER cursed. Poor decision making skills, nonexistent money management and lack of impulse control are what the curse is. But those are all curses they had before they won. The money only shone a spotlight on it.
From deposited funds to bankruptcy, that money was a blessing. If nothing else his kids got a better life, innocent people never got robbed at gunpoint and he's now a better person than he was before. I can think of no way that his win was actually a curse. Blessing, blessing, blessing.
That's just sad
This dude is a straight up idiot!He had a beautiful blessing and he just blew it...where he is at now he sure does deserve to be there.
Rule 1
Do not go public, keep your anonymity. Going public attracts the wrong sort of people.
Get professional legal and financial advice and enjoy your financial freedom in peace and quiet.
+1
I was reading an article interviewing a financial adviser she said top two threats to the winnings were inflation and stupidity. He lost it before inflation could be a factor, that's just sad.
Your rule #1 doesn't apply to most Americans. Only a handful of states allow us to collect winnings anonymously. Meaning, unless we drove hours to and from those states every time we wanted to buy a ticket, claiming anonymously isn't possible. I wish it wasn't so, because like you, I believe many of the issues arise from just the notoriety of being a lottery winner. Except in this particular case. This guy's problem was that he was financially retarded. Had nothing to do with people knowing he won.