A MILLIONAIRE who claimed winning the lottery had ruined his life is facing up to five years behind bars for attacking a man in a pub.
John Gallagher scooped £1.2 million in a EuroMillions draw in July 2013 after spending years struggling with a drink problem and drifting in and out of work.
But the seven-figure sum did little to transform his life and he quickly found himself in trouble with the authorities.
He was arrested last year for assaulting two men with a hammer and a dog chain in a pub he’d drank in for 30 years.
Following the brawl in the Clippens Inn in Linwood, Renfrewshire, he moved away from the area, buying a log cabin in Wemyss Bay, 22 miles away.
He later told how his lottery win had left him miserable and he was pining to have his old life as a labourer back.
Now the 49-year-old dad-of-four faces time behind bars after going for a drink in a different pub in Linwood and attacking a fellow customer.
On this occasion he left a man scarred for life in the unprovoked assault at the Heritage Bar.
His victim, Robert Sinclair, 50, had stopped for a pint when he was subjected to a torrent of sectarian abuse.
Mr Sinclair ignored the vile comments, prompting the lotto lout to hit him “on the left side of the mouth”, according to Procurator Fiscal Depute Kerry Marshall.
The victim needed seven stitches to his face and mouth following the incident, in July last year.
At Paisley Sheriff Court, Sheriff Seith Ireland told Gallagher he considered the attack a “very serious matter”.
“You left your victim with permanent disfigurement,” he said. “All options, including custody, have to be considered.”
Gallagher will be sentenced over the Heritage Bar assault next month.
In November he was given a community payback order for the Clippens Inn attack.
On that occasion he lashed out after someone made a remark about his beloved pet dog, Leo.
During that court case, his lawyer Paul Lynch said: “Mr Gallagher’s life, not just in recent years, has been plagued by his alcohol misuse.
“He has experienced good fortune but that is usually followed by misfortune.”
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Post the alcoholic later moaned his lottery win had sparked “two years of hell”.
“It’s actually the worst thing that’s happened to me because of all the hassle it’s caused,” he said.
“I want to go back to work part-time as not working is giving me too much time on my hands and I’m too young to retire.
“Be warned – it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Money solves a lot of problems – and causes a lot too. Be careful what you wish for.”
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