A man who scooped £100,000 from a £1 National Lottery scratch card as a teenager has seen his life spiral into serious criminality, culminating in a violent raid on a family home.
Jack Tanbini, now 30, struck lucky in 2014 but frittered away his windfall before turning to drug dealing and violent crime.
In November 2024, Tanbini and his associate Logan Hards, also 30, launched a terrifying attack on a flat occupied by siblings in Watson Street, Dundee.
The pair have both admitted threatening to kill the occupants and forcing their way into the property before ransacking it.
Both men remain behind bars following their guilty pleas to the charges.
Tanbini is already serving a sentence exceeding five years for drug offences.
CCTV footage captured the horrifying moment the two men repeatedly kicked at the flat’s door while a woman inside could be heard screaming.
After an initial failed attempt, they returned and successfully smashed their way in.
The 30-year-old only had £2,000 of his winnings left when he appeared in court
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NATIONAL LOTTERY
The recording captured their chilling threats to the terrified occupants.
The pair can be heard shouting: “Hear you are away to get murdered.
“If you dinnae chuck the money out the windae, you’re about to get petrol bombed.
“I’m going to kill your mum. Where’s the money?”
He purchased a National Lottery Scratchcard on a whim
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GETTYThe footage then shows Hards and Tanbini escaping from the property carrying a bag containing unidentified stolen goods.
The siblings living at the address were subjected to the violent intrusion and explicit death threats before the attackers fled the scene.
Tanbini received a prison term of five years and six months in 2025 after officers discovered cocaine valued at £150,000 at his Dundee residence.
The former cash and carry apprentice had no previous history of violent offending before these incidents.
His solicitor Jim Caird addressed the court regarding his client’s circumstances.
“There’s no violence on his record. He is currently serving a very lengthy sentence,” Mr Caird stated.
Mr Caird added: “The sentence he received has been absolutely life-changing as he had never been in prison before. A very hard lesson has been learned.”
The drug conviction marked Tanbini’s first experience of imprisonment, transforming the one-time lottery winner into a convicted felon serving a substantial custodial sentence.
Tanbini’s lottery fortune came about through an unusual twist of fate when he was a teenager working as a delivery boy.
A shopkeeper declined to accept payment for crisps after Tanbini had dropped off groceries, so he purchased a £1 scratch card instead.
Upon winning, the young man declared his intentions to spend the money on driving lessons and a vehicle.
However, by 2019, his solicitor revealed in court that the windfall had almost entirely vanished.
“He has had five years where he hasn’t had to work. He has something like £2,000 left,” Mr Caird explained at the time.