Unemployed Truck Driver Wins Millions in Lottery Despite Major Mistake on Ticket

Week after week, a Welshman played the lottery with the same numbers. But once it didn’t work out – and that made him a millionaire.

Kassel/Caerleon – His account balance read “minus 68 pounds”. Then Les Scadding, from Caerleon in Wales, won over £45m in the lottery. In fact, on the day in 2009 that changed his life forever, he actually made a major mistake. He gave him a lottery win worth millions, which can sometimes become a nightmare.

Unemployed truck driver makes serious mistake on lottery ticket – and becomes a millionaire

By then, the truck driver had been unemployed for almost a year, like him Guardian reported. But playing the lottery remained his greatest hope. The father of three said he always knew he would one day win the lottery. His daughter, who was living abroad at the time, asked him one question week after week after the draw: Did you win? His answer was always “next week”.

He relied on his lucky numbers. But on that fateful day, he forgot the slip of paper with the usual numbers and perforce chose a random “lucky dip.” The result: The then 58-year-old won half of the Eurojackpot, more precisely 45,570,835.50 pounds (almost 51 million euros). The other half cleared a syndicate from Liverpool.

“When we realized I had all seven, we almost dropped the laptop”

He hadn’t checked the numbers with the result until the next day, when his wife Samantha sent him out at tea-time to buy some food. When he returned to the lottery ticket office, he asked someone at the register to check his numbers. “The machine just printed out a pink slip and asked me to get in touch with the lottery company,” Scadding said. Curiously, it’s the same shop where another player, Jenny Southall, bought an £8.3million winning ticket in 2007.

“I thought I won about £50,000 and I rushed home to tell Samantha,” said the winner. At home, Samantha pulled out the laptop and went online to check the winning numbers. “When we realized I had all seven, we almost dropped the laptop,” he said. A phone call confirmed that her wildest dreams had come true.

The couple were soon back online, pondering what to spend the money on. “I’ve never owned a new car in my life and my dream car is a Range Rover Sport,” said the happy winner, adding that he envisioned a black model with a walnut interior to replace his Citroen C5 . “We went online and optimized it,” said his then-wife. But private happiness did not stay with the couple, in 2013 the two separated.

Lottery winner becomes major shareholder in football club

Scadding also wanted to do good with his win. He had testicular cancer and planned to support cancer charity. “We’re in a position where we can do a hell of a lot for ourselves and also bring joy to family, close friends and charities. So I think it will change us for the better,” said the winner at the time. “You can’t buy health, but we can have a very good life.” Scadding also fulfilled another dream: he became the majority shareholder of the Newport County football club after investing some of his money, serving as the owner between 2012 and 2015 of the club until he resigned.

In Thailand a man won the lottery thanks to ChatGPT. A case of brazen fraud, on the other hand, occurred in northern Hesse: A 66-year-old was killed with an alleged lottery win for 1000 euros. (cgsc)

Gambling can be addictive. If you need help, call the free hotline of the Federal Center for Health Education: 0800 1 37 27 00.