Sons smashed father's new cars after he wouldn't share lottery jackpot

Sons smashed up father’s brand new Shogun 4x4s with claw hammers after bus driver who scooped £38million on EuroMillions with work syndicate didn’t share £3.1million jackpot win with them

• Robertson family say they were ‘ripped apart’ after father won the lottery in 2012
• Sons smashed his new cars after only getting 200 cigarettes from the winnings
• Father Alex Snr later accused son William of harassment but case was dropped
• Lotto-winner revealed this week his girlfriend had dumped him and taken money 

Two brothers smashed their father’s new cars with claw hammers after he refused to share his £3.1million lottery winnings.

Alex Robertson Jr, 45, said he and his brother William smashed the windows of the two Mitsubishis after their father Alex Snr told him he would see ‘f*** all’ from his winnings, giving him just 200 cigarettes.

He said the family were ‘ripped apart’ after Alex Snr was part of a 12-strong syndicate of Stagecoach workers from Corby, Northamptonshire who shared £38million in 2012.

Speaking to The Sun, Alex Jr said: ‘We ended up taking hammers to his two new 4×4 Shoguns.

‘We walked up his driveway at 11 o’clock at night and put two claw hammers through the windows of the car.

‘We then reported ourselves to the police.’

He told the newspaper at the time: ‘This lottery win was the worst thing that ever happened to us — it ripped our families apart.’

Alex Snr later accused William of harassment, saying he had sent him threatening text messages that had left him petrified.

Alex Robertson Jr (pictured) said he and his brother William took hammers to their father’s ‘two new 4×4 Shoguns’ after he did not share his £3.1million winnings

The Robertson family said they were ‘ripped apart’ after father Alex (pictured wearing a white shirt with his thumb in the air) was part of a 12-strong syndicate of Stagecoach workers from Corby, Northamptonshire who shared £38million in 2012

William Robertson, then 35, outside Northampton Crown Court, where his prosecution for harassing his lotto winner father was thrown out in 2013

William was due to stand trial at Northampton Magistrates’ Court, but the case was dropped in 2013 after Alex Snr decided against flying back from Benidorm, Spain, where he lived with his partner Morag, to give evidence in the trial.

And the Robertsons are far from the only family that has been torn apart after winning millions in the lottery. 

Last week Kirk Stevens, 39, said he had been dumped by his partner and cut off from a jackpot of £10,000 a month for the next 30 years.

Mr Stevens and Laura Hoyle, 40, from Nottingham, won the jackpot in the National Lottery’s Set For Life draw in March 2021.

Mr Stevens had been letting Miss Hoyle live with him in his £240,000 three-bedroom house for free as he ‘didn’t expect her to pay rent’ – with the agreement that she would be the one to pay £25 a week for lottery tickets.

Kirk Stevens, 39, and Laura Hoyle, 40, (pictured) bought their winning ticket online via the National Lottery app but Mr Stevens said Miss Hoyle has dumped him and taken ‘everything’

The couple are pictured here with their dogs Teddy and Barney but Mr Stevens said Miss Hoyle wants to take the beloved pets too

The deal paid off for the couple, but Mr Stevens claimed Miss Hoyle has now broken up with him, snubbed him from the winnings and ‘even wants our two dogs’.

The couple had said they planned to set up a ghost hunting business and were photographed holding their cheque – written out to both of them.

Mr Stevens argued he should be given a share of the winnings after the split, but although the novelty cheque handed to the couple had both of their names on it, the ticket was bought with Miss Hoyle’s account.

Camelot has said that all Lotto wins are paid to an individual, even in a syndicate, and told the Sun that the winning account was hers.

However a year and a half later Miss Hoyle dumped Mr Stevens, got a new house, and he says she took the jackpot, The Sun reported.

Death, divorce and giving away millions to charity: What happened to UK’s previous biggest lottery winners 

August 2012: Adrian and Gillian Bayford

Jackpot:  £148m

Adrian Bayford and then wife Gillian, from Haverhill, Suffolk, pictured in August 2021 after it was announced they had won a jackpot of just over £148 million

In August 2012, Mr and Mrs Bayford won 190 million euro in a EuroMillions draw, which amounted to just over £148 million.

The couple used their winnings to buy a Grade-II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room.

But within a year their marriage ended and Gillian moved back to Scotland with her half share of the winnings, where she launched a property company. 

She has since remarried and had her third child with her second husband. 

Bayford remained in the Grade 2 listed property but after a series of relationships failed he put it up for sale and moved north to be closer to his children. 

January 2019: Patrick and Frances Connolly

Jackpot: £115m

EuroMillions lottery winners, Frances and Patrick Connolly pose during a photocall at the Culloden Hotel near Belfast, on January 4, 2019

Former social worker and teacher Frances Connolly and her husband Patrick won almost £115 million on New Year’s Day in 2019.

She has already given away £60million to charity, as well as sharing her winnings with her friends and family, saying she is addicted to helping others.

Mrs Connolly, 55, from Northern Ireland, has already busted the charity budget she agreed for this year with husband Paddy – and has given away what they would have donated up to 2032. 

She said helping others, whether with money or by volunteering her time, lifted people’s spirits during lockdown. 

The lottery winner has set up two charitable foundations, one named after her late mother Kathleen Graham in their native Northern Ireland, and the PFC Trust in Hartlepool, where the couple have lived for 30 years. 

The couple, who have three daughters – Catrina and twins Fiona and Natalie – are not extravagant with their wealth and Mrs Connolly has no desire to buy a yacht.

Their biggest expenditure after their win was a six-bedroom house in County Durham with seven acres of land, while Mr Connolly drives a second-hand Aston Martin, but Mrs Connolly scoffed at the idea of spending £13,000 on a console table. 

When she saw a TV show where someone in Monaco spent £25,000 on a bottle of champagne, she immediately thought that could have put a young person on the property ladder.

July 2011: Colin and Chris Weir

Jackpot: £161.6m

Chris and Colin Weir, who were later divorced, celebrate after winning jackpot of £161.6million in July 2011 – the then record for a lottery haul

Colin and Chris Weir, from North Ayrshire, bagged a jackpot of £161.6million in July 2011 – the then record for a lottery haul.

Mr Weir sadly died aged 71 in 2019, eight years after he won the jackpot. 

Mr and Mrs Weir, 62, were granted a divorce during the summer after 38 years of marriage. It is understood that they had been living apart for nearly a year prior to his death.

They had two children together, Carly and Jamie. 

Mr Weir was known for his support for the SNP and his love of Partick Thistle Football Club. 

He secured a majority stake in the Glasgow club in a seven-figure deal – and promised to give the 55 per cent shareholding to a fans group.

Mr Weir also helped the Jags to set up the Thistle Weir Youth Academy and a section of the club’s Firhill Stadium was named the Colin Weir Stand in his honour.

A former STV cameraman, he also made a donation to a community football club in his home town of Largs after setting up the Weir Charitable Trust in 2013 with his wife.

They had both been forced to give up work early and nursed each other through years of ill health before they became the 22nd richest people in Scotland after their £161,653,000 win.

Overnight, they entered the Sunday Times Rich List above Beatle Ringo Starr and singer Sir Tom Jones but shunned the lavish lifestyle decided to go on holiday to Brighton following.

One of the first items Mr Weir purchased following the amazing jackpot win was a checked sports jacket similar to the one worn by Scotsport legend Arthur Montford.

The couple ended up buying a number of homes, including for their son Jamie, who was working in a call centre, and daughter Carly, who was studying photography. They also bought homes for their close friends. 

Soon after the life-changing windfall, they moved out of their own three-bedroom home into Knock House – a mansion set in 23 acres of gardens and woods in the hills above Largs, complete with cinema, pool and stables. 

They bought it for £850,000 before selling it in 2016 to an overseas trust in a £1.4million deal.

They also went on to replaced their humble Suzuki for a £160,000 fleet of cars for the couple, their family and friends. 

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