A
75-year-old cancer patient's high spirits dropped to an all-time low when his
£80,000 lottery win was reduced to £2 because of a printing error on his (UK )
National Lottery scratchcard.
Retired gas
and central heating engineer, Tom Gray, bought the Lucky Streak scratchcard on
a visit to a Tesco supermarket and planned to share the winnings with his four
children and eight grandchildren. He also intended to pay off the debt on his
car, but when his daughter tried to help him claim the prize lottery officials
informed her the card's serial number was not listed as a winner on their database.
Lucky
Streak scratchcards first became available in September and the cards are
printed with two games that provide eight opportunities to win a cash prize.
Each card offers a one in four chance of winning and the cards have already
paid out £15.2 million in prizes. Mr. Gray’s card offered prizes of £10, £50,
£5,000, and a top prize of £80,000 for two dice with four spots. When Gray
uncovered a second four-spot-dice he was ecstatic, but lottery officials say
the second dice should have shown five spots and only showed four due to an
error in the printing process. The fact that the card was listed as a £2 winner
for another game did little to soften the blow. "It's their fault if
there’s a printing error," Gray said. "I hope they realize it’s their
mistake." Lottery organizers, Camelot, are now requesting the card be sent to
them so that they can look further into the matter.
