National Lottery winner who scooped £100k on scratchcard faces jail after police raid his home
A National Lottery winner who scooped £100,000 from a scratchcard as a teenager is facing jail after being caught with cocaine worth more than £150,000 in his home.
Jack Tanbini, 28, was remanded in custody at the High Court in Dundee after admitting being concerned in the supply of Class A cocaine in autumn 2022.
Detectives discovered a huge haul of the drug and more than £20,000 in cash during two raids on his Dundee property within weeks of each other.
Police first raided Tanbini’s home in Easson’s Angle on August 24, 2022, after obtaining a search warrant based on intelligence about drug dealing.
Officers found him in a VW Golf with two mobile phones displaying messages related to drug sales.
A block of 80 per cent pure cocaine weighing over 750 grams, with a potential street value of £142,000, was discovered in a bedroom cupboard.
Police also recovered a second bag of cocaine worth over £11,000 – as well as nearly £7,000 in cash.
Another raid on September 28 uncovered an additional £13,415 in cash.
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Judge Lord Summers deferred sentencing until January 8 at the High Court in Edinburgh, warning: “It is inevitable he will serve a substantial period in prison.”
While advocate depute David Logan told the court that Tanbini had previous convictions but had never served a custodial sentence.
Two of his previous convictions were for cannabis possession.
Tanbini, who admitted a reduced charge after initially being accused of dealing drugs for four years, requested bail.
The judge refused his application and he was remanded in custody.
In 2019, Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Tanbini was caught with £1,000 worth of cannabis after being stopped for dangerous driving.
He had driven on the wrong side of the road, mounted a kerb and overtook a bus, leading to a 21-month driving ban.
That came after he had scooped a lottery fortune while he was working as a cash and carry apprentice, buying the winning £1 scratchcard after a shopkeeper refused to let him pay for crisps after he delivered his groceries.
At the time, he claimed he would use the £100,000 windfall for driving lessons and to buy a car.
However, by 2019, nearly all of the money was gone, with his solicitor revealing to the court that Tanbini had spent almost every penny of his teenage lottery win.
Sheriff Derek Reekie told him: “Through good fortune you have not had to work for a long time as a result of that scratchcard win. I get the impression you have a flippant attitude to these offences.”
His solicitor Jim Caird revealed Tanbini had nearly exhausted his lottery winnings, saying: “He has had five years where he hasn’t had to work. He has something like £2,000 left.”