Lottery-winning rapist plans to open 30-bedroom hotel with winnings
A convicted rapist who won £4.5 million on the lottery has submitted a planning application to build a 30-bedroom hotel near the M25.
Edward Putnam, 47, was jailed for breaking into a house and raping a 17-year-or girl twice in 1993, reports the Metro.
He served four years of his seven-year sentence and went onto win the lottery in 2009.
He tried to remain anonymous when he collected his winnings from Camelot, but his identity was revealed when he was exposed as a benefits cheat, claiming income support and housing benefit after his win, reports IB Times.
He then admitted two counts of benefit fraud and was sentenced to two months in prison in 2012.
He has since invested in a number of properties and hired developers to draw up plans for the hotel at the £600,000 site in Kings Langley, near the M25.
His plans were rejected by Three Rivers Council last month, but it's thought he may reapply.
According to the Mirror, one local said: "Putman's the last person who should have anything to do with owning a hotel.
"What he did to that poor girl was unforgivable. I certainly wouldn't want to stay there."
But a property agent acting for Putnam said there had actually been "a lot of support" for the scheme, adding: "The situation now is we need to look at that decision and decide what we do from there, bearing in mind the amount of support the application had."
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