I WON the lottery but couldn’t bag my ‘jackpot’ because of technicality… when I finally got it my heart sank even more
A MAN who won the lottery but couldn’t bag the jackpot said it came down to a technicality.
Supermarket worker Dean Smethurst initially thought he had won £50,000 on a ticket.
But Dean’s big dreams were soon dashed when he was told his numbers didn’t match and he had actually won three lucky dips, worth £2 each – a grand total of just £6.
Poor Dean thought he had won the massive amount of cash after he’d gone down to his local Tesco supermarket in Farnworth, Lancashire.
As he had his lotto card checked, a message popped up on the till saying he had won.
He was told to contact Camelot as the apparent winnings were too big to be paid out there and then.
Dean then checked the terms and conditions and read that the message displayed for prizes over £50,000.
Dean then got his hopes up high, believing he had won big.
He said: “I’d gone in to do a bit of shopping and I thought I’d check to see how I’d gone on in the previous Saturday’s draw.
“The receipt said I’d won a prize the store would not be able to pay out and that I should contact Camelot immediately.
“All the other staff applauded me.”
But when Dean went in to check the ticket, the poor lad found that he had only won £6.
The cause for the confusion was that Dean checked his Saturday ticket as the Wednesday lottery draw was in progress.
Due to the draw being on, the checkout assistant got the message that Dean needed to go and check the ticket with Camelot.
Dean said: “When I had purchased the ticket I had bought one for both the Saturday and Wednesday draw.
“As the Wednesday draw was in the process of taking place, it looks like this was an automated message instead which would have been given for any win.
“I was absolutely gutted, It is back to the drawing board now.”
Gutted Dean had already started to spend the money in his head and said: “I didn’t sleep because I was so excited.
“My house is like a building site at the moment so that was the first thing that I decided to spend my winnings on.
“Then I decided to treat the family to a luxury holiday to Barbados.”
At the time, a spokesman for Camelot said: “In this instance, the player attempted to claim a prize during a ‘draw break’, when National Lottery sales are suspended while a draw takes place.
“The prize couldn’t be paid out at that time – because the ticket was still entered into a ‘live’ draw – so a validation slip was printed instead.
“To clarify, this generic slip is used for a number of scenarios – it’s not exclusively used for high-tier prizes.”
Fortunately for Dean, he wasn’t in work that day so he didn’t have to face his colleagues – and was soothed by his mum’s comfort food.
He said: “I just watched television and my mum made me some comfort food, which wasn’t much comfort.”
UK's biggest lottery winners
By Ethan Singh
- Anonymous winner – £195,707,000
A UK ticket-holder scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022 – the biggest National Lottery win of all time.
The holder, who remains anonymous to this day, amassed the fortune with just one lucky ticket.
- Joe and Jess Thwaite – £184,262,899.10
Britain’s previous EuroMillions record holders were Joe and Jess Thwaite.
The couple won a record-breaking £184million jackpot in May 2022 and shared hopes of a Hawaiian holiday and a new horse box for their children’s ponies.
Joe bought his winning ticket online on May 10, 2022, and the following morning received an email with good news.
As he learnt of the huge win, he was in disbelief and initially kept it for himself as he did not want to disturb his wife, who was sleeping.
Joe, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two children.
- Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000
Colin and Christine Weir landed the colossal prize money in 2011 and were Europe’s second-biggest winners until someone in Italy won a jackpot worth £193m in 2019.
They splashed the cash at an astounding rate of £100,000 a week before tragedy struck.
But at the time of Colin’s death in December 2019 his share of the prize money had dwindled by around £40m.
He spent the millions living a life of luxury, forking out for sports cars, property and the football club he supported.
Colin and Christine divorced shortly before his death after being married for 38 years.
He left money for their children Carly and Jamie.
- Adrian and Gillian Brayford – £148,600,000
Adrian and Gillian won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, which came to just over £148 million.
But Adrian split from Gillian the following year because of the stress of the win.
The couple bought a Grade II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021.
After divorcing in 2013, he failed to woo ex-sausage factory worker Marta Jarosz — but fell for stable girl Sam Burbidge.
She left him in 2017, taking 30 prize horses Adrian bought.
It might have worked out in the end for Adrian though as the former postman was seen smiling with ambulance worker Tracey Biles last year.
- Frances and Patrick Connolly – £114,969,775
Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband hit the jackpot.
They scooped almost £115 million on New Year’s Day 2019.
She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family.
- Richard and Debbie Nuttall – £61,000,000
The couple from Colne, Lancashire, took home £61 million on January 30 2024.
Both 54, they were enjoying a holiday in Fuerteventura, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
But they then discovered the big EuroMillions win.
Richard revealed they originally thought they had won £2.60, but then received another email telling the pair to check their account.
Other eye-watering anonymous winners:
- 2019 – £123million
Another anonymous winner scooped up a prize of £123,458,008 in the June Superdraw rollover.
- 2021 – £122million
Following nine rollovers, one ticketholder bagged the £122,550,350 jackpot last April.
The successful participant chose to remain anonymous.
- 2018 – £121million
Another anonymous winner found their fortune during the Superdraw jackpot rollover in April 2018, securing £121,328,187.
