British Lottery Winning Couple Of £58m Looking For Property Abroad
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By Sammie Jones-
A retired couple have won a £58m lottery jackpot – despite the winning ticket being mistakenly ripped in two.Fred and Lesley Higgins, from Aberdeenshire, matched all the numbers in the Euromillions draw on 10 July.
The pair are today celebrating a huge EuroMillions win of £57,975,367 from the draw on Tuesday 10 July and have already began executing their plans for the money.
Fred Higgins was a regular Tuesday and Friday player of two lines for each draw. The 67 year old took last week’s tickets into the local shop to be checked as he purchased tickets for the week ahead. Higgins told operator Camelot that he was used to carrying around a couple of tickets in his wallet at a time. On this occasion he asked the retailer to run them through the machine in case of a winner.
He said: “I handed the ticket over and the young man put it through the machine, telling me it wasn’t a winner. He ripped the ticket in two and threw it into the bin, as they would with all non-winning tickets. But this time, the terminal produced a chitty which said I needed to retain my ticket and call Camelot. The retailer immediately grabbed it out of the bin and handed it to me, not realising it was a winner before he discarded it!
“The ticket had been torn in two but all the numbers were still clear, so I took it back home to make the call. Lesley (57) was snoozing so I thought I would look at the website to double-check the numbers and sure enough, the first matched, then the second matched, match, match – we had them all!
“When Lesley woke,(up) I explained we had a winning ticket and what had happened. I showed her the numbers, asked her to check and she misread them, thinking we were £5.7M richer rather than an amazing £57M! I felt really calm at that point – I think it was just sinking in – so I then called Camelot and explained what had happened.”
He was advised that the usual processing of winning tickets would more complicated than usual because the ticket had been torn into two halves. An investigation would have to follow. It led to the security team came out to see the couple and chat to the store to check the course of events, and look at the CCTV footage.
“I wasn’t ever concerned that we wouldn’t get the money as I knew it was a honest mistake – it just had to be looked at to make sure everything was correct,” said Fred.
With the money firmly in their account, retired Audi administrator Fred and his wife Lesley, who handed in her notice from her role as Account Manager at the Montrose Port Authority on Tuesday, have already made their first purchase – a brand new Audi Cabriolet. As well as another car, possibly a BMW or a Jaguar, they are looking at how they can use the money for years to come.
Married for 35 years, Fred said: “We had a really comfortable life before the win but we did have dreams of living abroad. We love Gozo, which is where my niece lives, so we always thought we would get somewhere out there. But I have to say since we won, I’ve got my eye on somewhere in France and Lesley seems to be looking at property in Barbados. I think it might be fun to explore a few places before we commit to buying anything!”
Fred, a golf lover, said he would look after those close to him, including their daughter. He also plans to support some charities, but didn’t specify which ones he would support. He said it was too early to say. Fred also collects Malt Whisky – he has around 40 unopened bottles – and will be adding a few more to his collection.
CELEBRATORY
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With their anniversary coming up soon, it will be a celibratory August for the lucky couple. He added: “It is our wedding anniversary on 20 August and my birthday a couple of days later, so I think a celebration is in order before we decide what comes next.”
The couple bought and checked their winning ticket at Scotmid, High Street, Laurencekirk and the winning EuroMillions numbers from the draw on 10 July were 3, 8, 26, 33, 45 and the two Lucky Stars were 7 and v
VALIDATION
When validating any major prize, Camelot has to ensure that the winner is the rightful ticket-holder. As the ticket was ripped in two, a range of security checks had to take place. A Camelot spokesperson said: “We are so glad to be able to pay Fred and Lesley this amazing sum. It is essential that we ensure we are paying the rightful ticket-holder, and in situations like this, it can take a little time for these investigations to be completed.”
The National Lottery changes the lives of winners like Fred and Lesley as well as communities across the UK – players raise, on average, over £30m for National Lottery-funded projects every week. This Friday (3 August), the EuroMillions jackpot is an amazing estimated £61M – so someone else in the UK could be as rich as Fred and Lesley overnight!
.A spokeswoman for the grocery chain said: “Huge congratulations to Fred and Lesley Higgins – we are delighted for them. We have been working closely with the winners, Camelot and our store management to support due process.
“The individual concerned acted quickly and openly and rectified the situation. The most important thing is that two people’s lives have changed forever and all involved agree this was an honest mistake that was immediately rectified, reported and resolved.”
