"I spent it all"

Daniel Millar, a granddad from Motherwell in Scotland, had been on benefits when he won the money in September 2017, the Daily Record reports.

But he didn’t tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about his lottery win, and he was reported by the tax office when they noticed the money in his bank.

As a result, the DWP stopped providing his income support, housing benefits and council tax reduction.

By November 2017 though, Millar had spent the entirety of his winnings and ended up pleading with the DWP to get his benefits back.

He told the Daily Record: “I didn’t know I had to tell the Department for Work and Pensions, so I spent it all by giving it to my two sons and my daughter, paid for two family holidays, did up my house and bought clothes for me and my wife.”

When the DWP told him in November that he had been reported by the tax office, Millar said he was already £7 (€8) overdrawn at this point.

He said: “Now they have stopped my benefit. The only income I have is my personal independence payment of £350 (€410) per month and a pension of £1.08 (€1.20) per week. I have to pay full rent and council tax so we have little left to live on. My wife, who is my carer, gets £62 (€72.50) a week.

His wife said the DWP had informed the couple that they had “deprived ourselves of capital and don’t qualify for the benefits”.

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