A lottery winner who scooped £10,000-a-month for the next 30 years has told how his girlfriend has moved into their £500,000 dream home alone after she dumped him and took all the money.
Kirk Stevens (39), today announced that Laura Hoyle (44) has moved in with his ex-live-in partner Laura Hoyle to the detached five-bedroom house they selected together following their March 2013 life-changing win.
When the property was being constructed in an unassuming corner of Nottingham’s new estate, the couple purchased the three-storey brick-clad house off-plan.
This home at the end of a cul de sac overlooks the fields. It also boasts one the most prime spots on the estate, which is currently under construction.
He told MailOnline how he planned to propose to her. He and I chose it together.
‘It is the house we were meant to move in together. It’s beautiful. It has five bedrooms and is on three floors. It’s amazing.
The former couple, from Nottingham, won the jackpot in the National Lottery’s Set For Life draw – a total of £3.6million split over 30 years – in March last year. The couple had been planning to start a business in ghost hunting together, a passion they share.
Ten weeks ago she left him and took all of the winnings with her. He claims that she should receive a share of winnings. But, even though they were both named on the novelty cheque, it was purchased with Miss Hoyle’s account. She then claimed all of the cash.
Mister Stevens shared with us how his ex helped him move into the house of their dreams. He ‘couldn’t make her stay’ so she allowed her to borrow the bed, wardrobes, furniture, and other items from the spare bedroom.
He said: ‘I couldn’t make her stay when she said she didn’t want me so I helped her move out to help her our.
“She hired a moving van, and I assisted her in getting her things out. About 10 weeks later, she was able to move into her new home. I’ve not been in it since it’s had walls!’
Mr Stevens let Miss Hoyle live with him in his three-bedroom £240,000 house for free, with the agreement that she would be the one to pay £25 a week for lottery tickets.
Stevens assisted his ex-partner in moving out of their home to a luxury brick house. Stevens said that he was completely cut off from winning the lottery money.
Mr Stevens had been letting Miss Hoyle live with him in his three-bedroom house for free as he ‘didn’t expect her to pay rent’ – with the agreement that she would be the one to pay £25 a week for lottery tickets
Kirk Stevens, 39 (pictured) and Laura Hoyle (44) purchased their winning tickets online using the National Lottery app. However, Mr Stevens claimed that Miss Hoyle was cheating him and has taken everything
They said that they were going to start a ghost hunting company with the cash prize they won. The couple had previously spent a lot of time making videos about ghost hunting on Youtube.
Mr Stevens thought he had also won a jackpot of £10,000 a month for 30 years – worth £3.6 million – but the ticket was bought by Miss Hoyle, making all the winnings hers
Engineer Mr Stevens claimed that his ex said to him that he and Riley would “live the life” together if they won, but she’s ‘gone’ now.
Ironically, Stevens assisted his ex to move into their new house and has not been inside since.
He replied, “She took all my stuff and pulled the plug.” He said, “She pulled the plug and took everything. She wants even our dogs.”
They had shared custody in the past of Barny and Teddy, their Cocker Spaniels.
Mr Stevens said: ‘The relationship was not perfect but it was alright. There were a few problems towards the end but I don’t want to say what.
‘But I feel hard done by about the house, why wouldn’t you?’
Kirk described how Kirk and his wife first saw the property when it was just an empty plot.
He explained: ‘We originally saw it about a year ago. There were no walls, plasterboard or plasterboard on the shell. It had only wood and studs.
‘We liked the location, it was one of the best spots right at the end of a close and it was a similar style to the luxury Bosworth show home.’
He said Laura had put down a 10 per cent deposit from her money, stating: ‘She was buying the new house with a mortgage for us and I was continuing to pay the mortgage on my £240,000 house where I have lived for seven years and where she had moved in with me rent free.
‘We were happy with that arrangement and I had planned to rent my place out.
‘I was paying my mortgage and bills and she was paying for food and the dogs’ insurance.’
Miss Hoyle stated earlier this year that the couple were going to Disneyland Paris during the summer and ‘lots more exciting places’ before they split.
Laura said she was going to get sick in the clip that was taken from the moment the couple won on March 1, 2021.
Laura Hoyle (seen here in a short clip of the telephone call), 40 and Kirk Stevens 38, matched all five main numbers together with the Life Ball to win top prize in Set For Life draw March 1, last year
Mr Stevens said: ‘She took the bed from the spare room, wardrobes and some furniture she had bought and all her clothes.
‘I’ve not been in it since it’s had walls! After she walked out I assumed she was living there alone and I wasn’t living there.’
Kirk explained: ‘There was a bit of a spat last week and she said I wasn’t having the dogs and that she was keeping them over Bank Holiday although it was my week.’
He believes he is entitled to a portion of the Lotto winnings, telling MailOnline: ‘I don’t want hand of the money, that would be unreasonable, but £1,000 – ten per cent – a month would be quite nice!”
He said he feels ‘very distressed’ by the relationship breakdown and the spat over the winnings, saying: ‘Laura was a nice person and good fun. We did a lot of things together.’
Although the couple was originally due to start a ghost-hunting business together, it is now a partnership.
Kirk said: ‘It isn’t going to work together but she is hoping to carry on the business separately.’
When a MailOnline reporter visited her home, Laura was not there.
Her next door neighbour said: ‘She has gone away for a few days.’
According to Mr Stevens, Miss Hoyle met him through a friend in 2018. She then moved in with her three bedrooms in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire.
Referencing letting Miss Hoyle live rent-free in his £240,000 home he said she had asked how much rent to pay him but ‘as far as I was concerned she was my girlfriend.’
He continued, “I did not expect her to pay rent. She didn’t even ask me for any money.”
They are shown here together with Teddy and Barney, but Stevens stated that Miss Hoyle would like to adopt the pets as well.
According to Mr Stevens, Miss Hoyle met him through a friend in 2018. She then moved in with her three bedrooms in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire.
He said that instead of making arrangements for Miss Hoyle to buy lottery tickets, the engineer had stated that they had made an arrangement.
He stated that she had told him she would purchase us Lottery tickets. She spent around £25 a week and told me that if we won, we would both live it up.
“Our arrangement wasn’t any more formal, but I didn’t feel I required anything else.
“We lived together as a couple in our home. Aside from that, I didn’t expect to win.
“Laura had no job but was able to make a living from her home sale. It would have been possible for her to rent me, but she didn’t want it. The arrangement was perfect for me.
The arrangement was made after Miss Hoyle, who had just been fired by a logistics company and sold her Wolverhampton residence to move in with Mr Stevens.
Miss Hoyle ignored the message telling her she had won the lottery for two weeks, thinking she had only won £5.
Stevens said that both our names appeared on the check we used for photos and in every press release. [National Lottery operator]Camelot spoke about us both winning the prize jointly.
“Laura quit her job immediately and bought a Porsche Cayenne. It was really an amazing time.
“I think you could argue that we shared the winnings at half-share. Laura was paying me £1,000 a month from the winnings and she encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Laura promised to pay my student loans, which I could not have afforded.
“We planned for the future. Our plans were to build an empire and buy property together.
After their dream of winning the lottery, he said he planned to propose to Miss Hoyle and even purchased an engagement ring.
Stevens stated that he loved Laura and wanted the remainder of his life to be with her.
“I talked with her parents, and she agreed to marry me.” Their reaction was overwhelming and they were really happy for me.
‘I talked to Laura’s friends, bought an engagement ring and was going to propose — but then we hit a bad patch and I thought, ‘I can’t ask her now’. Then I put it off. So I sent it back.
“After a few months, everything was back to normal between us so I bought another band. Then, I planned to propose, and then it happened again.
“I thought Laura was unwilling to sign and that the money was part a problem,”
Stevens said that Miss Hoyle was the one who invent the ghost hunting business. The pair bought cameras to make Youtube videos about ghost hunts.
Miss Hoyle was able to purchase a National Lottery Night-Vision Camera and decided that she would make her love for ghost-hunting a profession.
Ghost-hunting was a weekend affair for the couple. Mr Stevens would work weekends, while Miss Hoyle would edit videos of ghost hunters at home.