A LOTTO jackpot winner vowed she will never play again after an ex-detective interrogated her like “some sort of criminal” in her own home.
Gran Amelia Barnham bagged £800 on a £1 HotPicks ticket, but has won an eye-watering £23,600 in total on small prizes.
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The 69-year-old, who lives in Hammersmith, West London, with husband Tony, forks out a whopping £60 a week on lotto games.
So she was stunned when Allwyn launched their probe into a loyal customer.
Amelia said: “This has stressed me out so much and I am fuming.
“I have been treated like some sort of criminal — and having someone come to my house was intimidating.”
Allwyn sent an ex-detective to her home and told Amelia she had to prove her identity due to so many previous wins.
Since the shocking interrogation, the mum-of-three has still not received her winnings from hitting the jackpot on February 3.
“The numbers came from the national draw — so did they think I was printing the tickets or something?,” added Amelia.
“I have never had this trouble before and I am worried it will put people off buying tickets.”
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The disgusted lotto winner told how the ex-detective “for 30 years” flashed his badge and took pictures of her passport while ordering to see bank statements.
Lucky mum scores stunning £3m mansion with £100,000 in cash for just £10 – but she thought her friends were pranking her
To her amazement, he also photographed Amelia herself.
Amelia slammed the interrogation: “It’s ridiculous. He was embarrassed and kept saying sorry.
“He also said, ‘I am only the messenger.’
“How can they treat people like this?
“It made me feel very uneasy and upset.”
The stressful ordeal began when she attempted to collect her windfall from the Post Office.
She was instructed to validate her ticket at the Tesco she bought it from but there Amelia was told to contact Allwyn.
After submitting photos of her ticket she was told an investigator would go to her house.
‘Quite frightening’
When speaking about the ex-investigator, Amelia branded Allwyn’s move “disgusting and disgraceful”.
She said: “If this was to happen to someone really old, they’re not going to like someone coming round their house.
“It might be quite frightening.
“I think it’s disgusting and disgraceful the way I’ve been treated and the way I’m sure many others have been treated.
“I will never ever buy tickets again — not if I’m going to have this sort of trouble getting winnings which are owed to me.”
The gran also said she would “warn other players” to save them from the same “disturbing” experience.
An Allwyn spokesperson said: “This is a new claims process following the Post Office’s decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000.
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“Security checks form a key part of the process of validating a winning ticket to ensure we maintain the integrity of The National Lottery.
“All of our players are very important to us and we aim to provide them with as positive an experience as possible, so we’re sorry to hear of Ms Barnham’s concerns and we’ll certainly follow up with her as we’re keen to address those with her.”
Four People Who Won Big & Lost It All
Mark is not the first lottery winner to have suffered huge downfalls after hitting the jackpot…
Callie Rogers
- She became Britain’s youngest lottery winner when she won £1.9million in 2003.
- Eighteen years after her win, Callie was found to be claiming Universal Credit after blowing her fortune. The revelation came during a trial after she was involved in a car crash while on cocaine in December 2020.
Michael Carroll
- The self-styled ‘King of Chavs’ was 19 when he scooped £9,736,131 on the National Lottery in November 2002.
- Carroll’s wife, Sandra, left him just a month after their wedding in 2003 after being appalled by his incessant partying, accusing him of cheating on her with sex workers.
- He also racked up an ASBO for terrorising his neighbours and spent time in jail for affray and failing to comply with a drug treatment order.
- By February 2010 Michael was declared bankrupt and was claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.
- He lost his entire fortune and was found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019.
Gillian and Adrian Bayford
- The couple’s lives changed in 2012 when they scooped a staggering £148million.
- But just 15 months after the win, their eight-year marriage ended with both parties partly blaming stress on their mind-boggling win.
- Gillian is now with fraudster Brian Deans, who was jailed for six months in 2012 after he stole £13,500 in fake refunds from Tesco.
Margaret Loughrey
- She scooped £27m in 2013 and became Northern Ireland’s biggest winner at the time.
- Tragically, in September 2021, Margaret, by now in her 50s, was found dead in her home.
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