Camelot refuses payout, player seeks legal action against National Lottery
By Kate Northrop
A lottery player is prepared to take legal action against the UK National Lottery after Camelot refused him a £6.5 million (US$8.5 million) payout, saying that the prize had already been claimed.
One UK veteran was taken by surprise when Camelot, the current operator of the National Lottery, told him they wouldn't pay out the same prize twice, leading him to believe that a retailer clerk stole his winning ticket worth £6.5 million.
In October 2019, Peter Rhodes of London took his lottery ticket to a retailer to check it. He handed the ticket to the man behind the counter, who then put it through a machine. When the device allegedly made a noise to indicate the ticket was a winner, Rhodes said things suddenly got very strange.
"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," Rhodes told The Mirror. "I didn't know how much was on it, and he 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."
Rhodes was positive that the clerk was swindling him of his winning ticket.
"I leaned over and saw he had about 80 tickets under the counter," Rhodes continued. "He picked one up and paid me something like £11.40 [US$15]. 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."
After the upsetting interaction, Rhodes took the next steps of contacting Camelot to resolve the issue. With a little detective work, he was able to confirm that the ticket in his possession was in fact worth £6.5 million.
"I spoke with someone in operations [at Camelot] who went out of their way to find an electronic footprint to prove I had bought the ticket," the 60-year-old explained. "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."
While the discovery gave Rhodes a boon of justification in his attempt to claim a rightful prize, the response he got from the Lottery was devastating.
"Then I got a call from their fraud department saying they are shutting down the case because they won't pay out twice," he revealed in an interview.
But he was not about to let the Lottery's rejection stop him from pursuing the winnings. His next step was to contact the police and hire an attorney to mount a case against the National Lottery.
Unfortunately for Rhodes, the police were less than helpful and told him to resolve it on his own.
"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," Rhodes said.
However, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson released a statement in response to Rhodes' complaint, which, again, attempted to halt the case in its tracks.
"In May 2021, police received a report of fraud relating to a lottery ticket purchased in October 2019," the spokesperson said. "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."
This wasn't good enough for the veteran, who expressed vehement exasperation at the absurdity of the forces working against him.
"It's a life-changing amount of money," he said. "They haven't stolen from me. They stole from my kid's futures. That money was going to be for them."
Rhodes said he doesn't buy lottery tickets very often, only playing when the jackpots are big enough. The crushing feeling of knowing that he held a winning ticket worth a huge sum of money was exacerbated by the fact.
"I turned 60 a couple of weeks ago and I never asked for anything from anyone," he said.
Having hired a legal team to take action against the Lottery, Rhodes is ready to keep moving forward in a bid to claim the prize which has already been paid out.
"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," a Camelot spokesperson stated.
LOL
* That's how you go about borrowing money from Peter to pay " Paul." I don't know which is worse: Letting your winning lottery ticket expire or this..
Would be interesting to know who got the cash and if they had any connection to the crooked cashier. I can understand the lottery not wanting to pay out twice but at least trying to get it back from the crook or crooks and seeing that justice is done should be the least they can do. I would go Neanderthal on all of them.
I agree the cashier should have given him is ticket back, I would not have left until police came and solved
the issue since management couldn't.. unfortunately I've seen store drawers full of tickets, it seem easy for a cashier to do hiding winning tickets till they could cash. Sad wish him the best...
This is why you always sign the back of the tickets.
"He handed the ticket to the man behind the counter, who then put it through a machine."
Maybe 30 or 40 years ago, but today there are hundreds of ways to check the numbers on a ticket. Why do people buy lottery tickets that could be worth millions and then hand it to someone they don't know and ask them how much they won?
"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."
My Online KY Lottery account has all my transactions, but I don't get paper tickets to cash. Maybe on of our UK members can explain that. When someone wins a MM, PB jackpot or a state lotto game, within hours they know where the ticket was bought and at the exact time of purchase.
Good luck with your lawsuit, Pete!
He obviously bought a physical ticket, So he wouldn't have had any online trail.
As for the bit about the organizers knowing when and where a ticket was purchased. Any computerised lottery ticketing system would have similar records.
The issue is confirming that person A bought the ticket.. Before you bother to do that, you need to have someone filing a "complaint"... Payment is usually within 10 (working?) days..
maybe he took a little too long..
And I'm not sure who he is suing.... If the shop assistant stole teh ticket, that should have been a criminal rather than civil matter and teh Police should have been involved... maybe if he wins his suit....
Most lottery players keep punting. Waiting for that jackpot. This clerk waited in his store for the jackpot to come to him. He knew just what to do. When an unwitting sap walks in and hands over the ticket, it's go time! He even had other tickets at the ready to make the swap! Ha Ha no more store clerk for me!
I always know what my winning tix are worth before I cash them in. So, if I should ever be so lucky as to win millions, I wouldn't even bother going to a store to check it (or at my store I work at).
I'm wondering why he didn't check his ticket online before even going to the store.
I also wonder if the store he went to has a scanner that he could check it himself there.
It seems az tho the UK are behind the times of Technology.. not having a ticket scanner that playerz can self- check their lottery ticketz...
Maybe a Will Smith moment woulda been in order here
..might've brought in Police to check for his stolen ticket..!!..only to suffer a 10 yr ban from the store..!! 
Did this guy know he won the jackpot before going to the store with the ticket?
If so, why on earth would you hand over the jackpot ticket to somebody else?
Way too many questions about this one.
Good point, Jiminismine.
Why not take a picture of the ticket before handing it over. Sign your tickets and take a picture of the ticket. With every smart phone having cameras, he should have taken a video and a picture.
Naah, THAT'Z a gooood idea...I'm glad I thought ov it..!!
Save me frum havin ta Will Smith dat dude..
I don't understand why the clerk was not arrested for fraud.
Some older people will ask the clerk to check for them. Me personally I scan on my phone and store checker. I've learned by watching and observing. I also don't throw scratch off on trash either, people come behind you and play off the loosing tickets number and go behind you. I stick all tickets in my purse losers and all
One thing is certain this won't happen to a member of lottery post nation, we're well educated in the laws of lotto!
Right! The UK sucks!!
In the U.S. when a clerk steals, they freeze the thief's bank account til the matter is solved.
They won't pay out twice but one guy got what was in the bank account at least.
U.K. lotto did nothing, wow!!
I think it's best to use a drop of blood to put a fingerprint on it.
Make sure it's your own blood though cuz the DNA has to match.
10 days?? Try closer to three months in California for a jackpot winner.
I no longer buy tickets in stores, I only subscribe online. The UK Lottery has a fantastic online subscription service, where players can pay by monthly direct debit and low value prizes are automatically credited to the same bank account.
"U.K. lotto did nothing, wow!!"
The thievious Clerk probably was related to a UK Lotto Official..!!
I think it's best to use a drop of blood to put a fingerprint on it.
Make sure it's your own blood though cuz the DNA has to match
- "Elementary my dear Watson.., Elementary"