A £27million
EuroMillions jackpot winner has been ordered to perform 150 hours of
unpaid work after she assaulted a taxi driver and broke his glasses.
Margaret
Loughrey, from Strabane, Co Tyrone, claimed she couldn't remember
carrying out the booze-fuelled attack in May this year.
But
the multi-millionaire - who was unemployed when she bought her
life-changing Lucky Dip ticket on the way home from the Job Centre in
December 2013 - pleaded guilty to assault and damaging the driver's
property while travelling in his cab on May 14.
Known
locally for following her mega win with considerable generosity, the
50-year-old - who claims to have given half of her money away already -
will now perform community service.
Strabane
Magistrates' Court was told that Loughrey was 'highly intoxicated'
after drinking vodka at a friend's house when the altercation took
place.
The prosecution lawyer said: 'The driver picked her up at an address in Sion Mills and took her to her home.
'She then shouted at him that she had no keys to get into her house.
'The
injured party tried to gain access to the address but when he returned
to his taxi the defendant refused to get out of the car.'
The lottery winner then grabbed a hold of the taxi driver's glasses, breaking them.
She also tore his sat-nav from the vehicle's windscreen and threw a book she'd found in the back seat at him.
Instead of asking her to leave, the cabbie opted to drive to the town's police station, handing her over to officers.
Even then she continued to behave both aggressively and was argumentatively.
She was physically restrained before being taken from the car into the police headquarters.
When
interviewed the morning after, Loughrey - who married in the 1980s but
separated after a year - admitted she couldn't remember any of the
incidents.
Deputy District Judge Sean O'Hare confirmed that the driver suffered no injuries during the assault.
The lottery winner grabbed a hold of
the taxi driver's glasses, breaking them. She also tore his sat-nav from
the vehicle's windscreen and threw a book she'd found in the back seat
at him
Loughrey scooped her £27million fortune after buying a ticket with spare change she found in her pocket.
At the time she was living on benefits of just £58-a-week and was walking back from the Job Centre.
However, her lottery win is said to have had no over-bearing impact on her.
The philanthropist, who lives alone, last year said she's given away roughly £13.5million to her local community.
She
is believed to still reside in the same modest £125,000 home in
Strabane town centre that she lived in before her life-changing win,
with her only major extravagance believed to be on a holiday home in
Portugal.
The multi-millionaire was unemployed
when she bought her life-changing Lucky Dip ticket from this SuperValu
shop as she walked home from the Job Centre in December 2013
'As
soon as I won the money I said it would go for the good of the town.
I've already given half of it away,' she was quoted as saying.
'I
always said I'd keep £1million for myself and give the rest to the
town. There is so much talent here in the Strabane area, people just
need to be given a chance.'
Last
year she purchased the site of an old mill on the outskirts of Strabane
for around £1million. She plans on transforming the 62-acre complex
into a leisure and tourism destination which will house a museum,
football pitches and a bowling alley.
She
also hoped to buy a vacant 22 acre business park in the town with the
plan of creating as many as 80 jobs in a craft village, but the council
rejected her plans.
Defence
barrister Stephen Chapman insisted the whole incident was hugely out of
character for Loughrey, who has no previous convictions.
Loighrey is believed to still reside
in the same modest £125,000 home (pictured) in Strabane town centre that
she lived in before her life-changing win, with her only major
extravagance believed to be on a holiday home in Portugal
Last year she purchased the site of an
old mill on the outskirts of Strabane (pictured) for around £1million.
She plans on transforming the 62-acre complex into a leisure and tourism
destination which will house a museum, football pitches and a bowling
alley
He
told the court: 'She is somebody who has undergone a significant change
in her life in recent years and she has gone about those changes in a
positive manner that has benefited many people in many different ways.
'She has other things going on in her life in terms of business interests and this is not something which will be repeated.
'In recent times she has started to drink more alcohol than she would normally do.'
Deputy
District Judge Sean O'Hare ordered her to complete 150 hours of unpaid
community work, pay £559 for the damage she caused to the driver's
glasses and £200 in compensation.
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