A MAN has revealed how he lost out on a £3 million lottery jackpot after purchasing a winning ticket – and the years-long ordeal that followed.
Martyn Tott, from Watford, was just 25 when he lost out on the cash due to a technicality.
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In 2001, Martyn and his wife Kay purchased a winning ticket – but the couple didn’t realize they had won until six months after the numbers were called.
Records at their local Londis proved Maryn and Kay had bought the winning ticket, but the couple was subjected to an agonising 45-day wait to find out if they could pocket the cash.
However, because the couple hadn’t registered that they’d lost the slip of paper within 30 days, they weren’t given a penny.
Martyn told the Mail on Sunday: “Having that money taken away was torture. For a long time I lost sight of who I was and what I believed in.”
He had planned to quit his job as a purchasing manager, move into a luxury mansion, and go on a round-the-world trip with the £3,011,065 jackpot.
But his plans came crashing down when lottery organiser Camelot told him he couldn’t collect his winnings.
Martyn and Kay, who had been living off a joint income of £34,000 a year, hired a lawyer on a no-win-no-fee basis to sue Camelot, claiming its 30-day rule wasn’t clear. However they had no luck in court.
The decision made headlines across Britain, with Sir Richard Branson and Tony Blair even intervening to call for the decision to be overturned.
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Blair’s wife Cherie Booth QC offered her legal opinion at a reduced rate, but also found the case wasn’t worth pursuing.
Sir Richard flew the couple out to his privately-owned Necker Island for a week in an attempt to cheer the couple up.
The Totts’ marriage disintegrated in the wake of the loss, with Martyn becoming fixated on getting justice.
Kay moved out of their home in Hertfordshire, while Martyn quit his job to write an autobiography about his ordeal.
He would spend his days desperately researching similar Lotto stories on the internet, all while living off dwindling savings.
Martyn turned to Christianity and in 2003 began an online friendship with an American woman called Tanya.
Martyn went to stay with Tanya in Nashville, Tennessee, where she introduced him to a church group led by a “self-appointed Apostle”.
He tried to join the church permanently but returned to the UK after discovering all members had to pay 10 per cent of their income to the church leader.
In March 2007, six years after the lotto ordeal began, Martyn’s lawers brought the case against Camelot in London’s High Court.
Martyn was warned he would have to pay Camelot’s £400,000 legal fees if he lost. His wealthy sponsor, Jonathan Bunn, then pulled out.
And Martyn was suddenly faced with the fact he would never see his lost millions.
Two years later, he published his novel, Six Magic Numbers.
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