THE most bizarre lottery wins can be revealed – from a missing £50,000 chunk to a fake hunt for a prize ticket.
Millions of lottery tickets are bought every day as people hope they’re in with a chance of scoring the jackpot.
3
3
But only a tiny few are lucky enough to win the life changing sums.
And Sun Online can reveal a few of the most bizarre ways people have taken home the jackpot.
Ashley Smith, from Mason County in the US state of Kentucky, was left fuming when her £176,000 ($224,000) jackpot was cut by £50,000.
She only got to take £126,000 ($160,409) home because of a little-known rule.
Lottery winners in America can either collect their winnings in a massive lump sum or split them into tax-free annuity payments over 29 years.
Ashley chose to take away the lump sum – so had to pay £50,000 ($63,000) in taxes.
PUBLIC APPEAL
Elsewhere, a Spanish shopkeeper allegedly launched a fake hunt to find the owner of a winning lottery ticket in a bid to keep the cash for himself.
Police claim Manuel Reija Gonzalez staged an elaborate plot with his lotto official brother to try and bag the £4.05million prize money.
Most read in Money
The ticket seller in the city of A Coruna was hailed as a local hero in June 2012 after launching a public appeal to find the customer who bought it from him.
Manuel claimed that he had miraculously found the lotto slip during a clear out, but cops believe he tricked the buyer into handing it over.
Investigators accused him of telling the unsuspecting Spainard that the £4million ticket was worth little over a euro.
The shopkeeper then allegedly enlisted the help of his brother, who worked for the national lottery, to cash in the ticket for himself, the Guardian reported.
It is claimed that Manuel tried to scoop the jackpot on five separate occasions, but each attempt was refused by lottery authorities.
FLUKE
Another lottery winner who bagged a huge £7.5million jackpot only did it because of a fluke.
Eric Tarry was 78 when he matched six numbers on a Lucky Dip ticket.
Since the Lottery launched in November 1994, he and wife Sue have played the same numbers every single week.
But on November 29, 2008, he forgot what they were – so chose six random numbers.
The memory lapse won him a fortune, matching 10, 34, 35, 39, 43 and 47.
The couple were in for a bigger surprise when Sue played their normal numbers too, and also won.
Eric told The Mirror: “I got up and went to my laptop computer and checked my saved numbers.
“Our regular ticket won £10. I got my other ticket and it said, ‘Congratulations you are a winner’.
“We haven’t slept since – can’t eat, can’t sleep.”
TV TIME
A couple from Tennessee, US, were told to appear on the Today show after winning a portion of a historic £1.2billion Powerball lottery jackpot in 2016.
They took home £416.5million ($528.8million), but not before announcing their winnings on television.
Their lawyer Joe Townsend told the host Savannah Guthrie: “I think the American public wants to hear from them, and even through they want to be private after this is over, they want to, you know, let the public know that they’re the winners.”
Guthrie went on to repeatedly tell the viewers the couple had reached out to the Today show, and had not yet collected their winnings.
They’d go on to buy a £4.9million ($6.2million) 10-bedroom, eight-bathroom home with a private lake and home theatre.
SPARKLING MOTOR
A dad-of-one took £55,086 home after finding his winning EuroMillions ticket while cleaning his car.
Dion Davies, 47, from Cardiff in Wales, was clearing out his motor before taking it to get valeted when he came across the ticket.
The actor has appeared in BBC’s “Torchwood” and Sky’s “Stella” and is currently rehearsing for a play he co-created called “The Bet” which starts next month.
And he is still in shock after matching all five numbers plus one Lucky Star in the EuroMillions draw on December 20.
Dion explains how he found his winning ticket and scooped thousands on the Lotto.
The lucky ticket in question was officially announced as unclaimed by The National Lottery back in January.
Dion said: “I needed to clean the car both inside and out. It was in a terrible state after lots of journeys, so I took it for a professional valet.
“The guy asked me to take all of my belongings out before he started just in case he threw away something that was valuable! I’m glad he did.
“I found a multi lottery ticket in my sun visor that I had bought in December from Tesco in Milford Haven where I was performing in the panto.
“I took it to the Spar in Tregaron and the chap in the shop said I needed to call the number on the back of the final ticket because it was a winner!”
The winning ticket was found by Dion on February 2, six weeks after the draw and a fortnight after The National Lottery announced the ticket hadn’t been claimed, encouraging players to check their tickets.
It comes as a woman had to sleep in a mancave after battling a number of health issues before her life was changed.
She won £400,000 in the lottery.
3
