A MAN who won £6.5m and then blew it on helicopters and motorbikes once gave away cash to the homeless.
Lee Ryan, dubbed the “Lotto Lag”, was the country’s first lottery winner to end up behind bars.
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After completing a prison stretch for handling stolen goods Lee went on an astonishing spending spree. The ex-con snapped up a country mansion, a fleet of luxury cars and a helicopter.
After a number of bad business decisions Lee started to run out of cash and ended up with nothing.
After the big win the Leicester man once handed out cash to the homeless and needy.
He said to the Mirror: “Believe it or not a lot of my money went on people that I thought needed it at the time.
“I used to slip envelopes of cash to homeless people and that was the most pleasure I ever got from having money.”
Lee said that the many people believed a lottery win would mark the end of their problems, but that was not true.
He said: “Be careful what you wish for. People always think, ‘Oh, if I win tomorrow that will be the end of my worries’.
That’s just not true, this is just the beginning of your worries.
“You will see who is who in your life, even in your own family it becomes fractured. It’s all just an illusion really.”
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Lee, now a painter and decorator, claims to have finally found peace of mind after his life spiralled out of control following his big win. He said : “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
After Lee’s marriage broke up in 2003 he went on to lose £2million in failed business ventures and property investments, after moving to Kyrgyzstan in central Asia with new girlfriend Jyldyz Djangaracheva.
A housekeeper stole £40,00 from him, an arsonist targeted his £145,000 Ferrari and the 40-acre grounds of his former mansion saw a £15,000 caravan burned down.
At one point Lee considered pulling an armed robbery but later handed in the shotgun to police during an amnesty after seeing sense. He later ended up on the streets after reaching rock bottom.
Lee, now living in Twickenham in south-west London, said : “Apart from death you can’t get much more rock bottom than being homeless, so I tested myself and it’s all good.
“Sometimes even now I spend my nights in tents just to remind myself that I’m bomb-proof, I’ve gone through it all.
“Now I’m just looking for that middle ground where you still have to strive for what you want, rather than just having it handed to you.”
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