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Lottery winner who scooped £11million in 1995 dies after moving to Scotland and ‘living like a hermit’
13 December 2023, 11:37
A lottery winner who won a huge share of a £22m jackpot has died months after his wife - years after moving to Scotland to live a life of seclusion.
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Double-glazing firm boss Paul Maddison and his former business partner Mark Gardiner won £22,590,829 in 1995.
They split the prize and Paul moved to Perth but his marriage to ex-wife Ruth ended when she left him for another man.
He moved to a luxury mansion, Lettertabor Lodge - and hired Evelyn McGillivary as a cleaner. They began a romance and got married in 1997.
A representative for the Crown office and Procurator Fiscal Service told the Daily Record: “The Procurator Fiscal received a report in connection with the death of a 73-year-old man in Perth on 28 November 2023. Following investigation the Procurator Fiscal concluded no further action was required. The family have been informed."
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The couple moved to Robgill Tower, a 16th Century property near Dumfries, buying it for £650,000 - where they lived a ‘reclusive’ lifestyle surrounded by security cameras, remote-controlled gates and an intercom to screen visitors.
They sold the castle in 2008 for £2.8m.
Evelyn told the Daily Record at the time: "It has been a fabulous and very happy house but it has become too big for us. Sometimes we move bedrooms just for a change but really it's time for the next part of the dream and we want to downsize. We have done the big house thing. Now we want something more manageable.This house is lottery fantasy now. Maybe another winner will buy it."
Evelyn died earlier this year after a health battle.
In 2009 Mr Gardiner said the lotto win ruined his life.
After learning of the exact sum they had won, he said: “We were still in shock and, for a long time, all Paul and I could do was just stare at each other - we didn't know what to say.”
After a series of failed investments he is now back in work.