Inside Lotto rapist's fire-ravaged home left lying in ruins and abandoned

01 September 2023 , 21:02

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Edward Putman (Image: Sunday Mirror)

Lotto rapist Edward Putman’s near-derelict home is up for auction as police try to claw back money from the jailed fraudster.

The price-tag for the detached property, once worth £700,000, has been slashed to £300,000. Prospective buyers are offered a fleet of rusting motors to sweeten the deal. Pictures reveal the convicted sex offender’s burnt-out home lying in ruins more than a decade after he bought it using £2.5million of “blood money” from his bogus ticket scam.

The sprawling one-acre plot is littered with corroded vehicles, static caravans and even a shipping container. Inside the four-bedroom home, rubble is scattered around and the ceilings are falling in. Putman, 58, serving a nine-year sentence for the con, is powerless to stop a sale being handled under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Property has fallen into disrepair

He had conspired in 2009 with Camelot worker Giles Knibbs to carry out the scam but then refused to pay him. Knibbs, 38, left a trail of clues for police after he committed suicide when Putman accused him of blackmail. Officers continue to probe a suspected arson attack on the property earlier this year. Land Registry records show he bought the house – the Mirror is not revealing its location– in 2011 from his alleged lover Lita Stephens.

A pal of Knibbs last night said: “That house was bought with blood money. Putman must be held accountable.” In a Rightmove listing, agents say two static caravans are “dilapidated” and there are 31 vehicles. They are in “very poor condition and only suitable to be scrapped”, adding items “will not be cleared”.

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Interior needs major renovation

Putman was sentenced to nine years in 2019 for scamming Camelot. He was unmasked as a Lotto winner in 2012 after he fraudulently claimed £13,000 in housing and income support, for which he was jailed for nine months. His Lottery con began to unravel in 2015 when Knibbs killed himself.

Putman, jailed for seven years in 1993 for rape, was told to pay £940,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. He returned less than £100,000 and an enforcement receiver order was granted. Ruth Mumford, from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, said: “Investigators have been working to establish the amount Putman made through illegal means. Our teams will continue to work to identify assets.”

Dan Warburton