A National Lottery punter who claims a shopkeeper switched his £6.5million jackpot-winning ticket is planning legal action against operators Camelot. Peter Rhodes, 60, claims the shop assistant swapped his ticket for one under the counter and paid out a small sum.
When a member of Camelot's operations team traced the ticket through his bank statement, she said it was worth £6.5 million, Peter told The Mirror. But hours later the lottery firm's fraud team contacted him to say they would not pay out on it - because the prize had already been claimed.
Peter, a former serviceman from London, has now instructed solicitors to pursue his claim over the ticket, which he tried to cash in at a shop in the capital in October 2019. He said: "It's a life-changing amount of money.
"They haven't stolen from me. They stole my kids' futures. That money was going to be for them. I turned 60 a couple of weeks ago and I never asked anything from anyone."
Peter claims that when the shopkeeper put the ticket through the lottery machine it made a noise to indicate he had won something, but the shopkeeper refused to return the ticket. He said: "When I first went in and handed it over the shopkeeper put it in the machine and it made a noise, meaning it was a winning ticket of some sort.
"I didn't know how much was on it and he then refused to give me my ticket. I asked for my ticket back and he took three steps to the right and put it under the counter.
"I leaned over and saw he had about 80 tickets under the counter. He picked one up and paid me something like £11.40.
"He tried to say it was my ticket and it wasn't. I know it wasn't because I folded mine twice and put it in my wallet and this one was flat."
Peter said he tried to pursue the matter with Camelot, explaining: "I spoke with someone in operations who went out of their way to find an electronic footprint to prove I had bought the ticket. I don't buy tickets every week, I only ever bought tickets when it was a large jackpot.
"I had the bank print off the statement and she found the ticket through that - and that is when I learned it was a £6.5 million ticket. Then I got a call from their fraud department saying they are shutting down the case because they won't pay out twice.
"I was so frustrated because it was the start of lockdown and I went to the police and they told me it is a civil matter. If National Lottery really cared about changing people's lives then they need to sit up and listen. They would have more respect if they came out and helped shut down shopkeepers who do this."
A Metropolitan Police spokeman said: "In May 2021 police received a report of fraud relating to a lottery ticket purchased in October 2019. This was initially dealt with as a civil matter.
"In September 2021, following further contact from the complainant, officers liaised with Camelot, who confirmed there was no evidence that any fraud had been committed. As a result, the case has been closed – should any further information come to light then this decision can be re-assessed."
A Camelot spokesman said: "While we can't comment on the specifics of this case, we're aware that Mr Rhodes has now instructed solicitors and we'll be responding fully to his solicitors in due course."
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