Fortune's grin: how a repeat offender won the lottery (6 photos)

Coincidences rule the world. And it is often difficult to assess what higher powers meant by some of them - to give a lesson to people or just to make fun of them.





Yoworth Heuer was a downright disgusting person. In 1989, a 36-year-old man went to jail. And no doubt deservedly so: for about 20 years, he attacked women. Some victims were abused.



Joworth Heuer in his youth

In accordance with British law, the names of the victims may not be disclosed. But the data of one of the victims, the last one, Shirley Woodman, has been made public.

By a strange coincidence, the victim turned out to be the director of the school where Hoer once studied. And, despite her age, she was able to identify the attacker.

Taking into account the number of episodes, the rapist received a well-deserved life sentence and went to jail. The man became a model prisoner, for which, as a concession, he even got the opportunity to go home on weekends.





In 2004, Yoworth bought a lottery ticket during such an outing. And this had to happen - I won. A huge sum of over £7 million. Fortune smiled on the prisoner for the second time: the administration of Leyhill prison notified that they planned to release him within a year.

Isn't this luck? The criminal rubbed his hands, planning how he would spend the winnings. And then the same Shirley appeared on the horizon. Having learned about the lucky man from the newspapers, the woman went to court demanding compensation for the injured women using the winnings.

Of course, the case was obviously lost - the statute of limitations had expired. But the stubborn old lady went further - she applied for changes in legislation.



Shirley

During the proceedings, all of Hoer's accounts were frozen, leaving only a monthly payment amount of just over 8 thousand pounds. Quite a lot, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the coveted millions.

Hoher was outraged and filed a lawsuit against the organizers. The bureaucratic machine slowly creaked. But the stubborn old woman achieved her goal - an amendment on exceptional cases and payment was introduced into the law. Shirley received 50 thousand pounds and 800 thousand as compensation for costs incurred.

Woodman donated all the money to a foundation that helps victims of violence.

Hoer at this time fought fiercely for the right to receive the entire amount. Therefore, he did not comment on the success of the former victim. He fought not just for a long time, but for a very long time. Only 15 years later, in the spring of this year, the criminal received the rest of the winnings and a penalty, causing a wave of indignation among the victims and the general public.

Fortunately, the tenacious and brave old lady did not live to see this moment: Shirley died a year earlier at the age of 92. Woodman's daughter insisted that Heuer donate the money to charity, but the man did not react to the appeal.



Hoer today

Now he and his wife have moved somewhere to the suburbs, are engaged in real estate and collect antiques. He had to leave his original place of residence in the Newcastle area: someone left an inscription in red paint on the gate of the house demanding that he leave.

What about morality? It is, of course, complex. But Shirley’s example proved that even one man in the field is a warrior. After all, a stubborn and brave woman spent years of her life to make this life easier for someone, complete strangers to her, in the future.



What about Fortuna? Perhaps the goddess is looking from somewhere in the heavens, watching with a grin the flickering of little people - so dependent on beautiful pieces of paper and so weak-willed in making decisions.