Lachlan Morganti pleads guilty to gambling away $65,000 raised for family of allegedly murdered Clunes woman Hannah McGuire

A “vile” thief was like a “kid in a candy shop” when he gambled away $65,000 raised to support the family of allegedly murdered Clunes woman Hannah McGuire.

Hannah McGuire was found dead in Scarsdale on April 5, 2024. Picture: Facebook

A “vile” act by a thief, stealing from a fundraiser for an allegedly murdered teacher’s aide, has been described as one of the “most self-indulgent acts of greed” a magistrate has ever had to deal with.

Winter Valley man Lachlan Morganti, 26, stole from the online collection for Clunes woman Hannah McGuire, who was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend in April.

Morganti, a cricketer, organised a fundraiser on behalf of Clunes Cricket Club in the weeks following Hannah’s death and raised nearly $65,000 for the McGuire family.

At Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, it was heard that within three weeks of Morganti launching the fundraiser, the funds were transferred to his bank account and he had gambled some in an attempt to win extra money and recoup debts.

He won various amounts, but in four to five days had lost all of the funds raised, tempted “like a kid in a candy shop”.

Lachlan Morganti pleaded guilty to the theft. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Hannah’s mother Debbie McGuire told the court her family never asked Morganti or anyone else for financial support.

She said she had several encounters with Morganti where he could have owned up to his offending earlier, and that he even stood among “the very people who had contributed to the GoFundMe” at her daughter’s funeral.

“The accused had the audacity to attend Hannah’s funeral … knowing he had spent the money,” she said.

Ms McGuire said Morganti had violated the trust and generosity of the whole community, while diverting attention away from Hannah and towards himself.

She agreed with a description of his behaviour as “vile”.

“As you can imagine, losing a child left us feeling incredibly sad and broken, something we still feel today and I imagine for the rest of our lives,” Ms McGuire said.

“ … I don’t believe the accused could provide an explanation for his actions that would ever be acceptable in these circumstances”.

She apologised to those who had made donations.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz called it “one of the most self-indulgent acts of greed that I’ve ever had to deal with in the Magistrates’ Court”.

“It’s debased the good acts of GoFundMe situations,” she said.

Lachlan Morganti tried to increase the funds raised by gambling them. Instead he lost it all. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

The court was told Morganti transferred $1500 to two associates, who reported the transactions to the police when they became aware of the theft.

He confessed to the McGuire family in May and admitted to the theft to police when they arrested him on June 3.

He said he had had a gambling illness for several years and would seek payday loans to pay for his losses, even gambling $10,000 from his superannuation account on the very day he received the cash from GoFundMe.

The court heard Morganti received the money at a time when he was “spiralling out of control”, having had a gambling addiction since he was 18.

“Got a gambling issue, no reason, I didn’t want to take the money,” he said.

The court heard Morganti was remorseful for his actions and was experiencing a “high level of shame and ostracisation”.

He became emotional as the offending was detailed in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court, putting his head in his hands.

Morganti pleaded guilty to theft and will be sentenced on October 1.

Two days later, Hannah’s ex-boyfriend Lachlan Young, 21, will face the Supreme Court charged with her murder.

Last week he pleaded not guilty to the charge.