A fraudster persuaded a heavy-drinking lottery beneficiary to discharge himself from hospital before taking him to a top hotel where he plied him with drink and fleeced him of £700,000, a court heard.

James Prince, of Tushingham, Cheshire, worked a series of deceits on Keith Gough, of Bridgnorth. Mr Gough, aged 58, had been given £1.5 million by his then wife after she won £9 million on the lottery in 2005. Prosecutor Peter Moss unfolded a tale of one man’s influence on another.

Prince, a bankrupt 35-year-old, was plausible and articulate, convincing Mr Gough that he was successful and needed investment in exciting business ventures that would generate good returns, the court was told.

Mr Moss told Chester Crown Court: “He met Prince through a bookmaker in Whitchurch called Deborah French whom he had come to know at a casino night being held for Shrewsbury Town FC.

“In late 2007 Mr Gough’s health deteriorated due to his drinking, and he started hallucinating. While in Telford Hospital he had an epileptic seizure and doctors sent him to the Priory Hospital in Birmingham.

“Prince was one of his most regular visitors. He soon persuaded him he was fit enough to be discharged, and he took him to a Cheshire hotel.”

While there Mr Gough was persuaded to write out cheques totalling £210,000 while they were in fact for a variety of uses including the repayment of a loan by Prince.

“He kept Mr Gough holed up and boozed up for six nights at the hotel to extract as much money as possible,” said Mr Moss.

Mr Gough’s ordeal only ended when he was “kidnapped” back into his family by his nephew, the court heard.

Prince, of Tushingham, Cheshire, admitted two counts of fraud and one of money laundering and was yesterday sentenced to three years and four months in jail. He also received a six month jail sentence, to run consecutively, for breaching a suspended sentence. His defence said he had committed the offences because he was being preyed on by gangsters.