Lottery Winner Falls on Hard Times

T

hey say the bigger you are, the harder you fall. Such is the case for one of Scotland's lottery winners, who has now found himself unemployed, broke, seeking benefits, and facing charges for drunk driving after totalling his Jaguar. Yikes! Suffice to say, we're glad we're not him right now.

"Mr. Moffat has had a particularly hard time over the past year or so." -- Dick Sandeman, defense solicitor

Robert Moffat won the lottery in 1999 and took home his share of £3.5M, £800,000. Unfortunately, Moffat didn't spend wisely, choosing to live in the lap of luxury instead of sacking away some cash for a rainy day, and has now lost it all. Additionally, he's unemployed and divorced, and recently crashed his high-end car while drunk. A considerable downward spiral, no?

51-year-old Moffat admitted to driving while being drunk—over five times the legal alcohol limit. When someone saw a Jaguar crash, the police were notified and a breathalyzer test was performed. The test showed Moffat as having 186mcg in 100ml of breath—more than five times Scotland's legal limit of 35mcg per 100ml of breath. All things considered, it's almost impressive that Moffat was even driving—even if very poorly.

Defense solicitor Dick Sandeman said, "Mr. Moffat has had a particularly hard time over the past year or so. He lost everything he had in his business and his wife and he split up. He has a drink difficulty." We don't know about you guys, but driving five times over the legal limit sounds a bit more serious than a "drink difficulty."

Moffat is currently claiming unemploymement benefits, and has offered to pay any fines back at £10 per week. Sheriff Vinit Khurana, meanwhile, has deferred Moffat's sentencing to later this month, pending background reports.

[Source: STV]