Jailed Lottery conman who cashed in fake £2.5m ticket is blamed for ‘driving partner in crime to suicide’
A conman jailed for faking a National Lottery ticket to claim £2.5 million has been accused of driving his co-conspirator to kill himself by the late man's partner.
Edward Putman, 54, was jailed for nine years this month for stealing £2.5million from the National Lottery with the aide of Camelot insider Giles Knibbs.
He said Mr Knibbs, 38, kept him in the dark about the fraud he took part in when working in the securities department at the Lottery operator until the very end.
After meeting Mr Knibbs in 2011, Mr Orphelin was introduced to "business associate" Putman, but he said he never trusted the "show-off" former Lotto winner.
In 2012 Mr Orphelin was shocked to learn Putman was sentenced to nine months for benefit fraud and asked his partner why he would need to do that.
Putman had claimed £13,000 in welfare support as he splashed out on two sports cars and a new house.
Mr Orphelin said his partner snapped at him that Putman had never won the lottery, and asked him to "leave it".
Following Putman's conviction Mr Knibbs became a changed man, growing increasingly "worried" and "depressed".
After the conman's release from prison, Mr Knibbs started spending more and more time at Putman's place.
RELATIONSHIP SOURED
He said: "I didn't know at the time what they were talking about, but I suspect now it was the winnings and the split."
The pair's relationship eventually soured over the fact that Putman had only given Mr Knibbs a fraction of the £1 million he said he had been promised.
Evidence suggested Mr Knibbs was initially paid £280,000 by Putman for his part in the ruse, followed by much smaller increments totalling £50,000.
In July 2015 Putman went to the police to accuse Mr Knibbs of blackmailing him for a sum "in the region of £400,000" as well as burglary and criminal damage.
Mr Knibbs spent the following months 'petrified' and he later killed himself after fearing he would go down for "10 to 15 years for blackmail", the trial heard.
Mr Orphelin, who gave evidence in Putman's trial, only found out the full extent of the conspiracy after his partner's death.
He said: "The day after Giles disappeared, a friend of his knocked on the door. He said, 'Can I come in? I need to tell you something'.
"It was like all of a sudden I had been thrown into a James Bond movie. It was surreal. But as crazy as it sounded, it all also made sense. I was crying and thinking, 'How didn't I spot this?'"
He added that Putman's sentence would hopefully bring him closure.