Amanda Stacey and her husband, Michael, who found a winning lottery ticket on the floor of a shop and collected the £30,000 prize have been ordered to pay back half the money to the person who originally bought it.
The couple spent half the money clearing debts, buying new carpets and treating their children after Mrs. Stacey spotted the slip in a Co-op supermarket in Swindon, Wilts.
However, Dorothy McDonagh, who had bought the £1 Daily Play ticket, called the UK National Lottery operator Camelot after discovering she had misplaced it.
The police were called when it was discovered the jackpot had already been claimed.
The Staceys were later given 11-month suspended sentences after admitting charges of fraud.
On Friday at Swindon Crown Court, Judge Douglas Field ordered the couple to repay Mrs. McDonagh the sum of £15,000 they did not spend.
After the hearing, Mrs. McDonagh, from Swindon, said she planned to take legal action against Camelot for the remaining sum.
She said, "It is jolly decent of them all to only let me have a half share of my win. I am sure Camelot will be very pleased.
"It has gone on for nine months but this is not the final episode. Who would have believed that winning the lottery would have caused so much hassle?"
The court heard police froze the remaining £15,000 of the prize after discovering the Staceys had spent the other half.
Judge Field ordered the frozen half plus interest of £112 to be repaid under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The Staceys declined to comment. Their attorney, Robbie Ross, said they thought finding the ticket was "luck not theft".
Ross said, "If the lady wants to get the other £15,000 back that is her own business but we have always known that this £15,000 would be repaid.
"They (the Staceys) didn't think they were stealing; they thought it was good luck and they would ride their luck."
Thanks to truesee for the tip.
The judge seemed to act in acordance to procedure. Glad to see he froze the account for further dispersement to the correct owners.
I don't blame The Staceys', I blame the unresponsible idiot who misplaced the ticket.
AMEN! I was thinking that as I read the story. I don't see why they have to repay ANYTHING back when they found it! Now if the lady reported her purse stolen and the ticket was in it, then I would be screaming fraud! There should be a "finder's keepers" law in the UK.
Plus if they have to give it back (oh how I wish they did the ruling in the US) Do the Stacy's get money back because of taxes they paid on the 30? If not, then the one who dropped the ticket should pay taxes on her half then she would have to pay a gift tax too because it was over 11k(?) Plus now she is paying her lawyers to fight for the other half...she'll end up with nothing! Does the UK even work that way?
Anyways....just me rambling.
Maybe I missed something. The ticket was lost and found in a public establishment. The ticket was then cashed in by the finders. The ticket loser discovers she's lost the ticket. How much time passed between the ticket loss and the ticket being cashed in? Why wasn't the ticket signed? What am I missing in this story? Why are the finders being charged with fraud? If you're going to play the lottery and expect to win why is it so difficult to sign your ticket when you purchase them so incidents like this doesn't happen? Is it because people are careless or what? Please explain. Next thing you know the people who find winning tickets in the streets and in the trash will be charged with fraud and theft. I wonder if these people are just as careless with their paychecks and other important items in their lives. My sympathy and frustration goes out to the Staceys, because when you look at it from a realistic point of view they were not stealing. It was no different than if they had found a $100 bill. Mrs. McDonagh should be thankful the judge ruled in her favor and go on with what she's been given and let it be a 15,000 pound lesson.
YEAH AND ALL i EVER HEAR ABOUT IS THAT TICKETS ARE BEARER PAYS INSTRUMENTS SO DONT LOSE IT ETC.
oops sorry for caps,
here some schmuck, loses their ticket and all is fine.
i have heard when u win you get quizzed about where and when you bought the winning ticket, I am going to say its a bearer instrument pay up.
when did I buy it?
its a bearer instrument pay up.
...
then again i might just do what they ask so everythoing goes as fast and as smooth as possible.
if you cant answer those questions I imagine that some schlob who walks in off the street; sobbing and bleating about lost tickets, but stating time and place of purchase , may just have a good chance of beating some cash out of you.
Dorothy McDonagh: Managed to prove the ticket was hers.
She cashed in a small-win ticket and used some of her payout to buy four �1 lines on the Daily Play game.
She still had the play (bet) slip.
She was able to give full details of when and where she bought the ticket.
Amanda Stacey admitted she had found the ticket.
Defence lawyer Rob Ross told the court: "It is important for the public to know that 'Finders keepers, losers weepers' is not true and never was true."
The whole thing is crazy. I bet the Stacey's don't feel very lucky right now.
"Why wasn't the ticket signed?.....If you're going to play the lottery and expect to win why is it so difficult to sign your ticket when you purchase them so incidents like this doesn't happen"
Most people dont sign the lottery ticket until they have won big. Everyone "expect" or "hope" to win, but then they play couple of times each week, and dont find it necessary to sign the ticket until big win. They also dont loose the ticket quite often. This was a news worthy case, where the ticket lost was a winning one.
By the way, charging the couple with fraud is ridiculous.
Call me crazy....but if I find an UNSIGNED ticket. Shouldn't it be a bearer instrument just like cash?
Is that the purpose of having a signture line in the back of the ticket. If you SIGN it.....even if you lose it....nobody else can claim it. However if your irresponsible and don't sign the ticket.....what makes it yours?
Oh, the reason WHY folks often don't sign their lottery ticket is because, in the case of a ticket with advance dates drawings' ever increasing jackpots, the higher the cash value of the jackpot gets, the more names the ticket holder may choose to ADD to the ticket (now being able to, after paying FULL taxes, share with family and/or friends). Do remember in the U.S.A., that we can ONLY "gift" $1,000,000 to either one person or many over our lifetime! After this, we will be charged taxes on this "gift" money that we already paid taxes on to originally received it (UNFAIR double taxation). Thus, if a ticket holder is open the idea of giving their friends or families more than this cap amount, it makes sense to add that person(s) to their ticket later!
Although, sometimes the ticket holder doesn't sign the ticket because, upon winning, they will consult a tax accountant/lawyer to determine if it makes taxes due sense to claim the prize under the name of a seperate entity corporation, trust, or personal name. These are careful reasons that can save taxes owed.
A few years ago when I match 5 of 6 in the local lottery and cashed my ticket I had to fill out a form to collect my winnings with the name of the retailer where I bought my ticket. Even though the bank would have paid me the winnings regardless of the retailer name I put on the form, an investigation later would have revealed fraud if what I signed wasn't true. Finding something that belongs to someone else doesn't make it yours. Signing a form stating you paid for something at a particular retailer that you found is fraud.
I don't think it's one of those black & white cases. This took place in the UK, but remember when a man in MA found a winning ticket in the trash? That case took years and the man who bought the ticket died of a heart attack while his family continued to fight. If I found a winning ticket and it wasn't signed, I don't know what I'd do. I once found a few tickets on the counter at Publix and gave them to the clerk, but the drawing hadn't taken place yet. She said they probably belonged to the person in front of me. Once I got 2 extra tickets I didn't pay for and returned them. So that means the person ahead of me didn't get 2 tickets or the machine would have been $2 short, right? However, if I found a scratch-off in the parking lot and it turned out to be a million dollar winner, I really can't say I'd turn it in, but I also wouldn't lie to the FL Lottery.
Hum...I think I should say something like Winners were the sweepers, and loosers were the reapers..... SIGN your <snip> ticket... Hence the back page of EVERY lottery Printout I have ever seen here in the US... Oh thats Right its the UK... Sorry for your loss...hope the winners are happy
Nope, I do not understand!!!someone lost the ticket,someone else finds ticket cashes it in,there is no forgery or deception but those people have to pay it back!!! there is something wrong with that big time!!! finders keepers, loosers weepers!!!