Iorworth Hoare

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Iorworth Hoare (born 1951/2) is a convicted rapist from Seacroft Gate, Leeds, England. He gained much negative media attention after his gambling made him a prison millionaire.

[edit] Crimes

Hoare committed multiple attempted rapes and sexual assaults during his twenties. A series of sex attacks saw him imprisoned in 1973 and again in 1983 (the latter occasion included his conviction for rape). He was released in 1987 but returned to the justice system in 1989 after attempting to rape a fifty-nine year old female former schoolteacher in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on February 22, 1988. For rape, two attempted rapes and three indecent assaults, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was recognised by a photograph he sent in for the Jimmy Tarbuck television game show Winner Takes All.

[edit] Notoriety

In 2004, Hoare was on weekend bail in Middlesbrough's South Bank Bail Hostel when he bought a lottery ticket. His numbers came up, and he became entitled to £7,039,469 winnings. This sparked considerable public outrage, especially as Home Office guidelines stated that he was allowed to keep the money without automatically needing to compensate any of his victims. The Sun newspaper embarked on a campaign to change the law to prevent criminals from collecting gambling prizes. The Sun has in the past criticised internal prison gambling, but the amount won, external nature and type of crime committed saw much support for the position of the Sun. The then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, decided to look into the case with a view to forcing future gains to go to compensation funds for victims. The Sun also claims that since his release he has cost the taxpayer £200,000 in police protection and rehabilitation without contributing any of his own money toward that amount, although officials say that the Sun's figures are overinflated for shock value. Stories have also been printed relating to a 17 year old neighbour to the hostel who claims that Hoare was a peeping tom who repeatedly leered at her in her underwear, and that he has bought a sexually violent sculpture with a man's suit and bloodstained crotch for £10,000. Although there is great support for the proposals to change the law, some see the Home Secretary as giving in to populist policies (he criticised the Conservative Party for similar populism during the 2005 election) and jumping on the bandwagon.

The victim of his 1988 attempted rape attempted to sue him for compensation, saying at the time "I am not interested in the money. I just want justice".