PRISONERS will be banned from benefiting from a lottery win, Home Secretary David Blunkett pledged after a convicted rapist from Leeds won £7m.

He was speaking amid a public outcry that Iorworth Hoare had won the jackpot on the National Lottery and growing pressure for the cash to be handed to his victims.

Mr Blunkett promised that prisoners and their families would, in future, be prevented from benefiting from such a windfall while they were behind bars.

Offenders will also be forced to contribute to a compensation fund for victims of crime, he added.

But the Home Secretary's plans, as they stand, will not stop jailed rapist Hoare enjoying his win.

Mr Blunkett said: "We can't stop a prisoner or their family from buying a ticket. But we can look closely at making sure they don't bene- fit from a single penny while in prison.

"We thought of this in a consultation paper we published in the new year.

"We announced we would take action so we could recover compensation if an offender won the lottery. I have legislation before Parliament to do just that.

Mr Blunkett added: "It will also mean that every convicted criminal pays into a victims' fund. Support for victims of rape will be one its top priorities."

Hoare was jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court in 1989 for trying to rape a 60-year-old woman.