An engineer who was dumped by his girlfriend after winning the lottery has told how he now fears she will take away his beloved dogs.
Laura Hoyle dumped her lover Kirk Stevens when she was earning £10,000 a month for the next 30 years and moved into their £500,000 dream home on her own.
Miss Hoyle, 40, was seen yesterday taking the former couple’s two cocker spaniels, Teddy and Barney, for a walk near their new home in Linby, Nottinghamshire, before handing them over to Kirk – as part of a joint custody arrangement.
But Mr Stevens says he worries she will fight him for sole custody of the dogs.
“The only communication we have now is because of the dogs,” he said. “We both own them and share our time with them. I may not have the lotto money, but at least I still have the boys.
Kirk Stephens was dumped by his girlfriend Laura Hoyle after she pocketed £10,000 a month for the next 30 years
“These dogs mean the world to me and we share them together for now. We’ve had them for over three years.
“I hope he never takes them away from me, I couldn’t take it. It hurts to lose the money we earned together, but it will hurt even more to lose the dogs.
Last week, Mr Stevens told how he and Miss Hoyle hit the jackpot in the National Lottery’s Set For Life draw – a total of £3.6m split over 30 years – in March last year.
Laura Hoyle was seen yesterday taking the former couple’s two cocker spaniels, Teddy and Barney, for a walk near their new home in Linby, Nottinghamshire
Mr Stevens said he met Miss Hoyle through a friend in 2018 and she then moved into his three-bedroom home in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire
After the life-changing win, Mr Stevens said he let Miss Hoyle live with him rent-free in his £240,000 three-bedroom house and they celebrated with a trip to Disneyland Paris.
She quit her job as a driver for Hermes and they planned to set up a ghost hunting business together – their shared passion.
But ten weeks ago she decided to leave him.
She moved out of his place and into the five-bedroom dream home in the pretty village of Linby that they had chosen together.
Ironically, Mr Stevens says he even helped his ex move into the new home he says they chose together and never set foot inside after she ditched him for a life of luxury without him.
He said: “I couldn’t get her to stay when she said she didn’t want me so I helped her move out to help her.
“She took the bed from the spare room, the wardrobes and some furniture she had bought and all her clothes.
“She got a moving van and I helped her move her things out. It was about 10 weeks ago and she moved right into the new house that was supposed to be ours together.
The couple said they plan to start a ghost hunting business with their prize money – they have spent much of their time together making ghost hunting videos on Youtube
Mr Stevens helped his ex-partner move out of their home and into the luxury redbrick home he thought they would share together, where she now stays alone. He said he was completely out of the jackpot money
“I may not have the lottery money, but at least I still have the boys,” Mr Stevens said. Mrs Hoyle is pictured walking their dogs
Mr Stevens said: “I hope she never takes them away from me, I can’t stand it.” Mrs Hoyle is pictured walking their dogs
Mr Stevens admitted their relationship “wasn’t perfect” before the split. “There were a few issues towards the end, but that’s the way things go,” he said. “But I feel heavy on the house, why don’t you?”
He claimed he should be given a share of the winnings – but despite the novelty advert check bearing both their names, the ticket was bought with Miss Hoyle’s account and she received the prize.
A Camelot spokesman said that despite the two names on the large check used for publicity, all lottery winnings are paid to an individual, even in a syndicate, and in this case the winning account was Laura’s.