‘We don’t want to live here anymore!’ – Neighbours of lottery rapist Iorworth Hoare, who earned £7.2m, criticise her efforts to sell her house

LOTTO rapist Iorworth Hoare stalks a country road in a village, paralyzed with fear – 20 years after winning the jackpot.

The 71-year-old, disheveled monster shocked the nation after picking his winning numbers while on parole from an open prison in August 2004.

But the quiet rural community to which he later moved with his £7.2 million fortune has failed to establish itself since then.

Neighbours report that the women are too afraid to stay home alone – and that some locals are even selling their houses.

Others travel to hiking trails further afield, fearful of encountering him on the winding country roads that were once their home.

Balding Hoare was photographed near his £500,000 home this week, just before the anniversary of his jackpot win.

He was walking in the middle of the street, holding a shopping bag in his hand and wearing a torn shirt and oversized jeans.

Locals told how he moved into a converted church in their small community in the north of England and turned their lives upside down.

A neighbor who asked not to be named said: “Why do you think we are trying to sell? It’s all up to him.”

“I know his background. He’s been there for a few years and it’s really uncomfortable.

“It’s an absolute nightmare. We see and hear him every day. The women here don’t want to be alone with him.

“It’s terrifying. We don’t want to live here anymore and it’s his fault.”

The neighbor told how he moved to the hilly community after the words “Go or Die” were painted on the gates of his former home.

They added: “When we tell people where we live, they all know we live next door to the lottery rapist.

“He’s making it difficult to sell the car. We’ve been trying for a while now.”

“I’m afraid we’ll lose a lot of money by selling. We’re fed up with the stress and worry.”

Hoare, 70, bought his winning ticket in August 2004 while on weekend leave at Leyhill open prison in Gloucestershire.

Gambling was forbidden for prisoners at that time, but a loophole in the law did not apply to lotteries.

He boasted to his fellow inmates: “I will be healthy for the rest of my life.”

Hoare was released in March 2005, but authorities kept his whereabouts secret during an operation that collected £10,000 a month from the taxpayer.

In September 2005, The Sun newspaper finally tracked him down in a probation home in Sunderland – to the horror of his neighbours.

Hoare used the name Edward Thomas and moved to Darras Hall near Newcastle, where he lived just around the corner from football idol Alan Shearer.

However, his license denied him unrestricted access to his money.

Instead, he received a monthly allowance of £8,666.

The rest of his fortune, which had grown to over ten million pounds thanks to clever investments, could only be accessed with the consent of the trustees.

Why do you think we are trying to sell? It’s all up to him.

But the convicted sex offender was given full access to his money – and refuses to hide.

Another local said: “Women who want to walk around and take a walk here drive far away because they don’t want to be near him.”

“He should be rehabilitated, but someone with this past is still extremely dangerous. He is a threat to society.”

“He glares at him. Of course people have checked his track record, they know what he is capable of.

“I’m nervous and always have in the back of my mind that there’s a serial rapist lurking just around the corner.

“He’s a creep. His behavior is very creepy. The thought of him being there makes me sick.”

Another neighbor said: “He likes to take long walks and go shopping.

“He goes to the surrounding villages and likes to talk to people who don’t know his past. They don’t know that he is a rapist.”

In 1989, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted rape of then 59-year-old former teacher Shirley Woodman in Leeds, after previously being convicted of rape and sexual assault.

Judge Rougier warned at the time: “Every moment you are free, a woman is in danger.”