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National Lottery conman rapist who forged £2.5m winning ticket gets early release
Eddie Putman was jailed for nine years in 2019 after he used a fake ticket to claim a £2.5million lottery jackpot – he has now been released from prison after serving less than half of his sentenc
Eddie Putman who was convicted of a lottery scam and served less than half of his nine-year prison sentence has been released early, sparking outrage among friends of his late accomplice Giles Knibbs.
Putman, 58, had tricked Camelot employee Knibbs into helping him forge a jackpot-winning ticket worth £2.5million. A friend of Mr Knibbs' family expressed their distress, saying: "Giles is gone and Putman is free how is that fair? Giles was exploited and took his own life."
They added: "Now Putman has been freed and has the rest of his life ahead of him." In 2019, Putman was ordered to pay back £939,000 for his lottery con.
Last year, it was reported he had paid off £94,000 before his home in Kings Langley, Herts, was seized by prosecutors. The house sold for £1.2million at auction, potentially leaving Putman with £355,000 after settling his debt, reports the Mirror.
However, the court can increase the value of the confiscation order. The friend of Mr Knibbs' family further commented on the situation: "They've never got to the bottom of what he did with the money. It's horrific."
Putman, who had earlier been jailed for seven years for raping a pregnant 17-year-old girl in 1991, became friends with Mr Knibbs after doing some building work at his house. They both dreamt of becoming property developers and started working on deals together.
They then cooked up a scheme to snatch £2.5million from the March 11, 2009, lottery draw, a prize that has still never been claimed. The real winning ticket, with numbers 6, 9, 20, 21, 31 and 34, was bought at a Co-op store in Worcester.
On August 28, 2009, just before the 180-day claim deadline, Putman rang Camelot claiming to be the winner. The cheeky criminal said he found the ticket under the seat of his van, but it was missing its bottom part, which had unique numbers.
Camelot accepted the damaged fake as real even though it didn't have a barcode. Putman kept a low profile after hitting the jackpot.
However, he was exposed in 2012 when he falsely claimed £13,000 in housing and income support and was sent to prison for nine months. His lottery scam started to fall apart on October 5, 2015, when Mr Knibbs, 38, tragically took his own life at Ivinghoe Beacon, Bucks.
It later came out he had told his mates that he and Putman had "conned" the lottery. The two men had fallen out over how to split the stolen money.
In June 2015, Putman had reported Mr Knibbs to the police, claiming he had threatened to expose his previous conviction for the 1991 attack.
Despite Mr Knibbs' tragic end, Putman kept spending his ill-gotten gains. His mates said he flew them to Egypt for a sunny holiday, handed out £500 bundles of cash and bought fancy motors.
Show-off Putman was known to copy the Harry Enfield character Stanley, telling his pals in a Brummie accent: "I'm considerably richer than you."
But his lie came undone and he was finally found guilty of fraud at St Albans Crown Court.
When sending him down, Judge Phillip Grey said the "sophisticated, carefully planned, and diligently operated fraud" hit the trustworthiness of the National Lottery. The judge told him: "You would have got away with this but quite plainly you were greedy.
"Whatever the exact monetary split you and Mr Knibbs had agreed, you did not pay him what split he felt he was owed. The two of you fell out spectacularly. This crime struck at the integrity of the National Lottery. You have also undermined the public's trust in the lottery itself."
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed yesterday that no extra time was added to Putman's sentence for not paying the confiscation order. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Offenders released on licence are kept under close supervision and subject to strict conditions for the remainder of their sentence. They face recall to prison if they breach them."
Daily Star Sunday
Eddie Putman was jailed for nine years in 2019 after he used a fake ticket to claim a £2.5million lottery jackpot – he has now been released from prison after serving less than half of his sentenc
Eddie Putman who was convicted of a lottery scam and served less than half of his nine-year prison sentence has been released early, sparking outrage among friends of his late accomplice Giles Knibbs.
Putman, 58, had tricked Camelot employee Knibbs into helping him forge a jackpot-winning ticket worth £2.5million. A friend of Mr Knibbs' family expressed their distress, saying: "Giles is gone and Putman is free how is that fair? Giles was exploited and took his own life."
They added: "Now Putman has been freed and has the rest of his life ahead of him." In 2019, Putman was ordered to pay back £939,000 for his lottery con.
Last year, it was reported he had paid off £94,000 before his home in Kings Langley, Herts, was seized by prosecutors. The house sold for £1.2million at auction, potentially leaving Putman with £355,000 after settling his debt, reports the Mirror.
However, the court can increase the value of the confiscation order. The friend of Mr Knibbs' family further commented on the situation: "They've never got to the bottom of what he did with the money. It's horrific."
Putman, who had earlier been jailed for seven years for raping a pregnant 17-year-old girl in 1991, became friends with Mr Knibbs after doing some building work at his house. They both dreamt of becoming property developers and started working on deals together.
They then cooked up a scheme to snatch £2.5million from the March 11, 2009, lottery draw, a prize that has still never been claimed. The real winning ticket, with numbers 6, 9, 20, 21, 31 and 34, was bought at a Co-op store in Worcester.
On August 28, 2009, just before the 180-day claim deadline, Putman rang Camelot claiming to be the winner. The cheeky criminal said he found the ticket under the seat of his van, but it was missing its bottom part, which had unique numbers.
Camelot accepted the damaged fake as real even though it didn't have a barcode. Putman kept a low profile after hitting the jackpot.
However, he was exposed in 2012 when he falsely claimed £13,000 in housing and income support and was sent to prison for nine months. His lottery scam started to fall apart on October 5, 2015, when Mr Knibbs, 38, tragically took his own life at Ivinghoe Beacon, Bucks.
It later came out he had told his mates that he and Putman had "conned" the lottery. The two men had fallen out over how to split the stolen money.
In June 2015, Putman had reported Mr Knibbs to the police, claiming he had threatened to expose his previous conviction for the 1991 attack.
Despite Mr Knibbs' tragic end, Putman kept spending his ill-gotten gains. His mates said he flew them to Egypt for a sunny holiday, handed out £500 bundles of cash and bought fancy motors.
Show-off Putman was known to copy the Harry Enfield character Stanley, telling his pals in a Brummie accent: "I'm considerably richer than you."
But his lie came undone and he was finally found guilty of fraud at St Albans Crown Court.
When sending him down, Judge Phillip Grey said the "sophisticated, carefully planned, and diligently operated fraud" hit the trustworthiness of the National Lottery. The judge told him: "You would have got away with this but quite plainly you were greedy.
"Whatever the exact monetary split you and Mr Knibbs had agreed, you did not pay him what split he felt he was owed. The two of you fell out spectacularly. This crime struck at the integrity of the National Lottery. You have also undermined the public's trust in the lottery itself."
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed yesterday that no extra time was added to Putman's sentence for not paying the confiscation order. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Offenders released on licence are kept under close supervision and subject to strict conditions for the remainder of their sentence. They face recall to prison if they breach them."
Daily Star Sunday