£5million Lotto rapist is planning to build a 30-bedroom hotel next to one of Britain's busiest motorways 

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Edward Putman, 47, was convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl in 1993, and is now planning to build a 30-bedroom hotel next to the M25

A convicted rapist who won almost £5million on the Lottery is planning to build a 30-bedroom hotel next to one of Britain’s busiest motorways.

Edward Putman, 47, who was jailed for breaking into a house and twice raping a 17-year-old girl, submitted an official planning notice for a budget motel at the site in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire.

His plans, which were refused by Three Rivers Council last month, include demolishing the £600,000 house and outbuildings he bought with his lottery winnings and converting them into a hotel off the M25.

Putman served four years of his seven year sentence for rape in 1993 before scooping £4.5million when his numbers came up in September 2009.

He had intended to keep his win a secret by requesting anonymity from National Lottery operators Camelot, who were unaware of his previous convictions.

But his past came to light when it was revealed that he had carried on claiming £15,000 in income support and housing benefits following the win.

Doubts were raised after council officers became suspicious when he tried to buy his former one-bed council flat in Hemel Hempstead with £83,000 cash.

He admitted two counts of benefit fraud and was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2012.

Now released, the benefit cheat is said to have invested in a ‘wealth management’ finance scheme and the hotel is his latest project.

Despite having his proposals turned down by the local authority, Putman has hired a property developer to draw up detailed plans and continue pursuing the scheme.

Richard Wyndham-Smith of FJ Thompson in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, told the Sunday Mirror: ‘There was a lot of support from it from local people so it’s something we have got to balance the whole thing up and make a decision on.

‘The whole thing is that the current use of the site is something that a lot of the resident’s don’t want.’

Mr Wyndham-Smith added that a decision to appeal or submit a fresh plan was currently being considered.

The property was granted planning permission for second-hand motors to be sold and serviced at the site in 2005 – six years before Putman is believed to have moved in.

However, it is not understood whether he currently operates a business from the site.

Many locals are said to be ‘horrified’ by the plans, and one told the Sunday newspaper: ‘Putman’s the last person who should have anything to do with owning a hotel.’

And Mike Sibley, Crime Prevention Design Advisor from Hertfordshire Constabulary, said: ‘I am rather concerned with the drive through underground car park.

‘The car park could also be a magnet for antisocial behaviour particularly in bad weather and could become a youth shelter with associated problems.’

Putman's £600,000 home in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, that he bought with his lottery winnings and now wants to demolish in order to create a budget hotel

The plans (pictured), which were submitted to Three Rivers Council, show the proposed elevations of the build

The proposals include 30-bedrooms across two floors and a dining room, kitchen and an office beside M25

While Lib Dem Councillor, Joy Mann, has backed the plans stating that as a commercial business it is ‘an excellent idea’.

She said: ‘The immediate area is an industrial site with some very prestigious international businesses based there.

‘A motel would bring the kind of jobs to the area that we need especially skills for our young people. It would be good for local business as guests would be using local facilities.’

It is not known whether Cllr Mann knew about his previous convictions – which also include witness intimidation and perverting the course of justice - when she submitted the comments to the council.

Putman has also been convicted of wounding with intent in a case from the mid-1980s, after a neighbour was stabbed in the stomach, while friends claim he has appeared in court for other offences including burglary.

Putman, pictured left after he served four years of seven year rape sentence, and his ex-partner Gail, right

After his rape conviction was revealed, his ex-partner Gail Vincent, 53, waived her right to anonymity and described how he had put a six-inch knife to her throat and raped her as well. 

Ms Vincent, with whom he has a 28-year-old son, Sam, only learned of his lottery win when she was contacted by the Daily Mail in 2012. 

She said: ‘He paid less than £200 in maintenance in 12 years, although seven or eight of those he was in prison. 

Putman leaving St Alban's Magistrates' Court in July 2012 where he admitted two counts of benefit fraud

‘I can’t begin to tell you what I think about his win. He should give the money back or pay compensation.’ 

She also claims that he burnt alive her children’s pet rabbit and guinea pig and pushed her down the stairs while she was eight months pregnant. 

She told a newspaper: ‘I was petrified of him. He was like a ticking time bomb – you never knew when he’d go off.’ 

Ms Vincent, who lives in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, made a rape allegation against him in 1998 but later withdrew it after claiming she was pressurised by his associates. 

The former support worker, who stayed with Putman for 15 years, was jailed for 28 days for perverting the course of justice. 

Her daughter from another relationship, claimed her Putman was a violent alcoholic who sexually abused her by making her undress in front of him. 

She also alleged he threatened her brother and mother with a kitchen knife. 

She said: ‘Eddy comes across as a charmer but he is really a Jekyll and Hyde character. He’s won millions and it couldn’t have happened to a less deserving person. He is an absolute monster.’  

While his victim, who was a teenager at the time of the rape and cannot be named for legal reasons, spoke out after his lottery win saying she 'would like to see him penniless'.

‘He is a brazen psychopath who told everyone what he had done when he went to prison. There was no remorse, no shame,' she said.