John McGuinness: a £10m lottery win, Livingston FC and nothing left by 2009

In January 1996 John McGuinness, 32, from Shotts in Lanarkshire, said he held one of four winning tickets in a double rollover Lotto jackpot. He worked at Law Hospital in Carluke on about £700 a month. His share came to around £10 million. He left his job and lived on the interest.

He looked at Motherwell and Hamilton before buying Livingston in 1998 with Dominic Keane and Willie Haughey. The club cost £1 plus its debts. A new stand was built with a bank loan and Livingston rose to the Scottish Premier League and played friendlies against Manchester United.

In 2001 he signed papers making him liable for that loan, alongside the other two, backed by bonds he had put up. When things went wrong at the club, he lost the bonds and was sued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In August 2009 he gave evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh, where Keane was on trial for a £2.3m fraud linked to the loan papers. McGuinness said he had lost £3m to £4m, was out of work and had nothing left. The jury found Keane not guilty.

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Sources

• The Scotsman (archived): lottery winner was left penniless, court told (Aug 2009) (web.archive.org)
• The Scotsman (archived): Dominic Keane cleared of £2.3m fraud (Aug 2009) (web.archive.org)
• The Herald: nurse claims £9.6m lottery win (Jan 1996) (heraldscotland.com)