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A lottery winner stole £15,000 of trainers while delivering shoes for FootAsylum.

David Swatman, 43, won £100,000 on a lottery scratchcard in 2018, and promised to use the money to follow his beloved Liverpool FC.

But he is good fortune came to an end when he was caught repeatedly swiping boxes of shoes he was ferrying between FootAsylum’s depot and its stores.

A court heard Swatman handed them to a third party but he was arrested when CCTV captured him at an “unauthorised stop” near Bury, Greater Manchester, where transfered goods to another vehicle.

Swatman told police he had taken around 22 boxes, each one containing trainers worth up to £1,000, over an approximate two-month period.

The delivery driver dodged jail yesterday at Manchester Crown Court after admitting a single charge of theft covering stolen items worth £15,450.

His 20-month jail sentence was suspended for two years. He was also ordered to carry out five days of rehabilitation activity, to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £425 prosecution costs, Manchester Evening News reports.

His Honour Judge Field KC said: “It wasn’t just one theft. It was a series of thefts that occurred as long ago as the late summer of 2020 when you were working as a delivery driver for FootAsylum.

“You used your privileged position to steal goods from your delivery vehicle for the benefit of others… It was a breach of the trust placed in you by your employers.

“I have formed the strong view by what you have achieved over the last two-and-a-half years that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case.”

FootAsylum began an investigation when it discovered that, on September 9, 2020, there was a discrepancy in the number of boxes that were leaving the Broughton depot in north Wales and the number arriving at Manchester outlets.

Daniel Lister, prosecuting, said Swatman had memorised an “encryption lock” on the vehicles to carry out his crimes.

The court was told he had 22 sets of previous convictions covering 44 offences, including a drink-drive offence said to have been committed shortly after the FootAsylum thefts.

Swatman, who now lives in Keighley, West Yorkshire, made an admission of guilt from the moment he was arrested.

Max Saffman, defending, said his client was now working part-time as a window fitter earning about £300 per week, although he hoped to be working full-time soon.

When the man won big on the scratchcard, he said: “I’ve followed Liverpool all my life but because of my job, I often have to work weekends and can’t see them play as often as I would like to. Thanks to this win, I can treat not only myself but my friends as well.

“Who knows, I could even get tickets to the Champions League final in Kiev if Liverpool make it there.”

Liverpool made it to the final but were beaten by Real Madrid.

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