A MAN has told of the moment he found out his stolen debit card was used to buy a winning £4million scratchcard.
Jon-Ross Watson and Mark Goodram, from Bolton, scooped the whopping sum with Joshua Addyman’s card details back in 2019.
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But the 29-year-old had no idea his card had been involved until The Sun approached him last week.
The two lotto louts beat odds of 4,019,579/1 to win one of three maximum £4million Red scratchcard jackpots.
Speaking to The Sun, Joshua explained: “No one ever told me someone won £4million.
“I’ve had my card stolen before, I was like ‘why is this such a big deal?’ no one ever explained it to me.
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“If it was about people winning £4million on my card, I would have been interested to see what happens to these people.”
Watson and Goodram went on a five-day bender after winning the cash downing champagne, cocktails, lager, vodka, Jack Daniels, cider and wine.
But their bungling conspiracy faltered after letting slip they didn’t have bank accounts – with Camelot investigating the win.
They then made their claim to the cash public saying a pal who wanted to “remain anonymous” had given them the debit card.
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Joshua said Greater Manchester Police asked him to come to the city and attend court for his stolen debit card, but never told him why.
“They kept calling me, they even sent police to my house… but I was like ‘I’m not going to Manchester to say I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know anything’.
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“At the end of 2020, they’re asking me to go to court and even at this point I still had no idea.
“I even asked them ‘Hi, what is this for?’ And they just ignored it.”
“This was right at the peak of Covid, I didn’t want to go to a court room full of people just for my card getting stolen.”
Both Watson and Goodram were career criminals before the win, with Goodram racking up 22 convictions for 45 criminal offences. Watson has 72 convictions for 133 offences.
Timeline of Blotto Lout saga
22 April, 2019: Easter Monday turned green for Jon-Ross Watson and Mark Goodram when they beat odds of 4,019,579/1 to win one of three maximum £4Million Red scratchcard jackpots. The pair begin a five day bender.
26 April, 2019: The pair finish their five day bender to talk exclusively with The Sun. They downed champagne, cocktails, lager, vodka, Jack Daniels, cider and wine. Yet to receive any money, they ask “where’s our cash?” after Camelot chiefs became suspicious during a slurred phone call.
6 June, 2019: Louts threaten Camelot with legal action after lottery operator confirmed the win but refuses to pay up.
17 July, 2019: Pair claim that a mystery third person gave them permission to used the card.
15 March, 2020: Goodram is interviewed under suspicion of fraud while behind bars for assaulting his ex-lover. Watson is also behind bars for an unrelated incident.
17 July, 2020: The pair are charged with fraud by GMP accused of buying five scratchcards, including the jackpot winner, without the consent of the card holder.
18 September 2020: They lose the court battle as under the rules which applied to the scratchcard, Camelot had been entitled to reject the prize claim.
14 December, 2021: Both are jailed are pleading guilty in Bolton Crown Court to three counts of fraud.
They eventually pleaded guilty to fraud after police investigated the win – returning the louts back to the clink.
Joshua continued: “I definitely would have been more cooperative if they told me what was happening.
“All they sounded like was that my card got stolen and they were going way over the top with it.”
He said if he got any money from the win he would buy a house in London and take his family on holiday.
However, experts spoken to by The Sun said it was unlikely Josh would get any of the cash.
A spokesperson for lottery operator Allwyn said Josh didn’t have any claim to the money given that the ticket was purchased fraudulently.
They said: “There has been no reason for us to contact him as he is not the owner of the ticket and he has not contacted us.
“The prize in question will be paid to National Lottery Good Causes after the expiry of the statutory limitation period starting from the end of the prize claim period for the relevant Scratchcard game.”
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Lawyer David Grossbard said: “If this was fraud and the card details were stolen I can’t see that the account holder would have any right to any winnings from a scratchcard win.
“This would most likely be in breach of the scratchcard operator’s terms and conditions and also I believe that they would be required to report fraud and not payout in this situation.”
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