Euromillions winner jailed over £34,000 discounts con

A GAMBLING addict who blew a £164,000 Euromillions win before scamming victims out of tens of thousands of pounds has been locked up.

Reece Casey, from the Black Country, tricked people into thinking he could get a big discount at luxury clothing company Flannels.

He met them via Snapchat before pocketing a total of £34,000.

Casey, 31, left 25 victims out of pocket by his cruel racket.

One woman who fell for Casey’s scam handed over inheritance left by her late mum, while another used up cash she had put aside for her husband’s birthday.

Now the fraudster - who had an ‘entrenched lifestyle of gambling’ – has been jailed for swindling the cash from his victims in June last year.

Casey began gambling after he started working off-shore, Newcastle Crown Court was told. He won £54,000 from betting firm William Hill in 2018.

The convict then went on to pocket a £164,000 EuroMillions windfall the following year. But he ‘squandered’ the pot of money after developing a gambling addiction.

The court was told he then decided to defraud his victims. Prosecutor Katie Spence previously told how Casey defrauded 25 people in Sunderland after advertising he could get a 40 per cent discount at Flannels.

He told people on Snapchat he had a friend who worked there, with victims sending their cash to Casey.

One of his friends responded to the offer and ordered multiple items, Ms Spence said.

One woman sent him £4,500, while another woman bought items using an inheritance she received from her late mum. Another woman lost money after buying items for her husband’s birthday.

Kelly Sherif, defending, said Casey had shown ‘extreme remorse’ and was unaware there were so many victims as he had only dealt with three himself. She said he had an ‘entrenched lifestyle of gambling’, which he started when he was 15.

She said: “In 2018, he won £54,000 from William Hill and in 2019 won £164,000 on the EuroMillions, and he squandered that money on betting.

“At that time, he realised his gambling addiction was extremely bad and he put several blocks in place to exclude himself from gambling.”

Casey, of Maughan Street, Dudley, admitted fraud. Sentencing Casey, Judge Stephen Earl jailed him for 12 months.