Jack Tanbini, aged 30, from Dundee, scooped £100,000 from a National Lottery scratchcard but squandered his winnings – and is now awaiting sentence for an attack on a family home
A National Lottery jackpot winner who squandered £100,000 made threats to kill and petrol bomb a flat.
Jack Tanbini has been remanded in custody after he and his friend Logan Hards admitted carrying out a violent raid on a family’s home. The duo were captured on CCTV as they launched a tirade of violent threats while kicking in the door of the property.
A woman could be heard screaming from inside the property before Hards and Tanbini, both aged 30, are then seen fleeing from the flat in Watson Street, Dundee, with a bag of mystery items on November 25, 2024.
Tanbini, who scooped £100,000 from a winning National Lottery scratchcard when he was a teenager, and Hards had sentence deferred by Sheriff Alastair Carmichael. Both Dundee men admitted making threats to kill the occupants and booting in the door of the property before taking items from within.
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Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie told Dundee Sheriff Court that the duo arrived in a car and parked outside before storming upstairs to a flat occupied by siblings.
The CCTV footage captured them saying: “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?”
They tried and failed to kick the door in, before returning a short time later and successfully forcing their way into the flat at the second attempt.
Tanbini’s solicitor Jim Caird told the court he was currently serving more than five years in jail for a drug dealing charge. “There’s no violence on his record,” Mr Caird said. “He is currently serving a very lengthy sentence. His liberation date is not until the end of 2029.
“The sentence he received has been absolutely life-changing as he had never been in prison before. A very hard lesson has been learned.” Tanbini was jailed for five years and five months at the High Court in 2025 after he was caught being concerned in the supply of cocaine worth around £150,000.
In 2019, Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Tanbini was caught with around £1,000 worth of cannabis after being stopped by police for dangerous driving. He admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without insurance and possession of cannabis – and told the court he had already blown most of his teenage lottery win.
Cash and carry apprentice Tanbini bought his £1 scratchcard when a shopkeeper refused to let him pay for crisps after he’d delivered his groceries.
He claimed he would use the windfall for driving lessons and to buy a car, but his solicitor Jim Caird revealed Tanbini had spent almost every penny by 2019. Mr Caird said: “He has had five years where he hasn’t had to work. He has something like £2,000 left.”
