Original Blog Entry: Lottery winner, 29, found dead

truesee — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:19:39 GMT

29-year-old lottery winner found dead at home

Police have launched an inquiry after one of Britain's youngest lottery jackpot winners was found dead at his home.

Auslan Cramb

Scottish Correspondent

4:08PM GMT 07 Jan 2010

One of Britain's youngest lottery winners Stuart Donnelly, who was found dead at his home in Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire Photo: PA

Stuart Donnelly, 29, won almost 2 million when he shared a $25 million jackpot at the age of 17 in 1997.

The trainee pharmacist, who famously toasted his win with Coca Cola because he was too young to drink champagne, was said to have become a virtual recluse in recent years.

He used his money to buy homes for his parents his father has since died - an executive seat at Celtic Park and a new house in the countryside near Castle Douglas in south-west Scotland.

He was found dead at his home on Wednesday morning and although police are investigating they said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Mr Donnelly, who also gave $15,000 to Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow where his younger brother was treated for a genetic disorder, told of the strain of winning the lottery at such a young age in an interview in 2003.

He said: It was very hard to deal with all the attention I got. I even had people camping outside my house. It put a huge strain on me and my family.

On his page on the social networking site Bebo, he admitted that he was scared of socialising, and listed his activities as: Sleeping, watching TV, listening to music, surfing the net. Basically, anything that involves not leaving the house.

A Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary spokesman said: We can confirm we are investigating the death of 29-year-old Stuart Donnelly from the Castle Douglas area. The procurator fiscal has been informed of the death.

Early investigations suggest that there are no suspicious circumstances and a post mortem is being arranged.

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