THIS is the tragic downfall of a lotto winner who once raked in a £100,000 jackpot but has now steals trainers and earns £300 a week.
David Swatman, 43, was rolling in it after a mega scratch card win but now has to work as a part-time window fitter to make ends meet.
Swatman, from Manchester, bagged the prize in 2018 and said he would use the money to follow his beloved football team Liverpool.
At the time he told the Liverpool Echo: "I’ve followed Liverpool all my life but because of my job, I often have to work weekends and can’t see them play as often as I would like to.
"Who knows, I could even get tickets to the Champions League final in Kiev if Liverpool make it there!"
The club did make it to the final, losing to Real Madrid 3-1.
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Now, however, he has narrowly avoided jail over a series of trainer thefts carried out when he work as a delivery driver for FootAsylum.
The crook swiped boxes of expensive shoes while ferrying them between the companies North Wales depot and its Manchester base, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Between August and September 2020, he nicked 22 boxes, each one containing items worth up to £1,000.
The total value of the stolen goods came to £15,450.
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His crime was discovered when, in the course of a company investigation, CCTV revealed Swatman stopping at an unauthorised point to allow the boxes to be loaded into another vehicle.
It came out that he had memorised an 'encryption lock' code for the vehicle, allowing him to complete the thefts.
This isn't the shamed driver's first brush with the law, either.
The court heard that he has 22 sets of previous convictions covering 44 offences.
He admitted a single charge of theft covering all the items.
In mitigation, Max Saffman pointed to the admission of guilt, as well as the fact that his client currently works part-time as a window fitter for just £300 a week.
Swatman was handed a 20 month sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out five days of rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work.
He was also slapped with £425 of prosecution costs.
Sentencing him, His Honour Judge Field KC said: "You used your privileged position to steal goods from your delivery vehicle for the benefit of others… It was a breach of the trust placed in you by your employers."
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However, the judge said that Swatman had shown "genuine remorse" and "taken steps to address the problems" that led to him stealing.
As such, he added: "I have formed the strong view by what you have achieved over the last two-and-a-half years that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case."
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