Inside tragic story of Lottery winner who lived on council estate before £10M jackpot… but lost it all
A LOTTERY winner from a council estate won a £10million jackpot before losing it all in tragic circumstances.
John McGuinness was working as a hospital porter when he won £10million in 1997.
He lived with his parents in a council house at the time and earned £150 a week.
After the win, he spent more than £3million on close family members, swapped his Vauxhall Astra for a £140,000 Ferrari Modena Spyder and bought a £500,000 seafront apartment in Majorca.
At one stage he had six cars on his driveway, including a Bentley, Mercedes, Jaguar and BMW.
And he bought a £1.3million mansion in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, which he moved into with his wife Sandra and family.
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He moved to another mansion just 20ft away in 2004 so he could fit a snooker table in.
But John lost all his winnings after a devastating turn of events.
The die-hard Livingston FC fan's fortunes were left in tatters when he used his sudden wealth as a guarantee against the club's loans.
It meant that he was liable for all of the football club's debts.
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He had put £4million into Livingston before it went into administration.
And he lost millions in a venture to buy Livingston with former Celtic director Dominic Keane.
Keane was accused in court of tricking him into signing an extension to a £2million loan but was found not guilty.
John said at the time: "Keane broke down in the witness box and said he'd lost his house. But I'm the only one who has lost everything.
"I had the Ferraris, the designer wardrobe and the luxury holidays. I had everything I had ever dreamed about and more.
"Now I'm worried about how to pay for the shopping."
John is now understood to live as a virtual recluse who struggles to pay bills.
