After winning a staggering prize of nearly EUR5 million (PS4million) in a lottery scratchcard, two friends couldn’t contain their excitement.
Bolton Lancashire’s Jon Watson and Mark Goodram couldn’t contain their excitement as they celebrated the win in front of an on-looker.
Watson, 34, dances around the convenience store, while Goodram, 38 bangs his fists against the counter, before striking a celebratory pose for the shopkeeper.
Things quickly turned ugly when the friends started to do their own thing.
Goodram discovered that he didn’t have a bank account in which to deposit the funds after attempting to claim the Camelot money on April 22, 2019.
Camelot sent Goodram an investigator to inquire about the card that Goodram purchased.
Goodram said that John, his friend, bought it for him because he “owed” him money. However, John was unable to give John’s address or surname.
It was found that the card belonged to Joshua Addyman.
After pleading guilty at Bolton Crown Court to fraud on their first day, the men were sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
Michelle Wilkinson, Detective Constable of the Complex Fraud Team stated that this was an exceptional case because Goodram and Watson had one in four million chances of winning this scratch-card. However, Watson and Goodram knew they had purchased this ticket fraudulently.
While the huge winnings were never in the wrong hands and nobody was hurt, I have no doubt that these men would happily accept this money regardless of any guilt for their illegal ways of obtaining it.
The staff at Camelot must be commended for their vigilance and the subsequent investigation of our team at Complex Fraud Team have ensured that these men are now behind bars. We can learn from their selfish and unscrupulous actions how they were not acceptable.