COPS PROBE FIRE AT LOTTO RAPIST HOME
‘Arson’ theory of conman’s pad
and
A BLAZE at a house owned by jailed National Lottery rapist Edward Putman is being investigated as possible arson.
The £700,000 home was wrecked by fire at a time when the courts are trying to recover £1million of stolen Camelot cash.
Ex-brickie Putman, 57, was convicted of rape before he used a fake ticket to secure a bogus
Lotto win.
A source: said “He has little or nothing to barter with now the house has gone up in flames. His new sentence is about to be triggered because he hasn’t paid the proceeds of crime.”
Firefighters were called to Putman’s home in Kings Langley, Herts, on October 17 and spent hours dousing flames in the roof. Police confirmed they are investigating if it was started deliberately but admit “current lines of inquiry have been exhausted”.
A neighbour said: “Smoke was billowing all over the place.
“The firefighters stopped it spreading. If it was arson, it is disgraceful they were put at risk.”
Putman claimed a £2.5million jackpot win in 2009 after conspiring with Lottery employee Giles Knibbs. Putnam’s rapist past emerged when he appeared in court in 2012 for claiming benefit.
The Lotto con began to unravel after the 2015 suicide of Knibbs, 38, who had told pals of the scam.
Putman was convicted in 2019 of fraud and jailed for nine years.
dan.warburton@mirror.co.uk