"Blotto Louts" bender is short-lived
Includes video report
By Kate Northrop
The owner of the debit card two United Kingdom convicts used to purchase a winning lottery ticket worth £4 million (US$4.98 million) says he wants to see at least a portion of the prize.
Joshua Addyman, 29, was on the receiving end of a fraudulent debit purchase made by two jobless convicts, Mark Goodram and Jon-Ross Watson, which resulted in a £4 million lottery win.
Just having learned of the win last week, Addyman says he is hoping he'll receive some of the winnings. While it's a reasonable ask, given it was his payment method that funded the ticket purchase, it's not very likely to happen.
Bolton residents Goodram and Watson, both in their mid- to late-30s, made headlines in 2019 when the pair won the £4 million prize from a National Lottery scratch-off game. Their gritty demeanor and outlandish spending sprees propelled them to national fame, and the video of them celebrating at the lottery retailer, showing them pounding their fists on the counter and jumping for joy, went viral.
On April 22, 2019, the same day they won the prize, they called Camelot to file a claim. They then went on a five-day bender filled with champagne, cocktails, vodka, wine, and other spirits. The duo was hailed as the "Blotto Louts" by social media users for their excessive drinking, and the nickname stuck in the media.
They grew frustrated that the Lottery was not paying out their prize, citing that it was likely due to their past as career criminals prior to the win. Goodram had 22 convictions for 45 criminal offenses under his name and Watson had 72 convictions for 133 offenses.
"Camelot bosses are messing us around, probably because they know we've had a lively past and been in prison," convicted burglar Watson told The Sun. "Well, that's too bad. They need to pay us what we're owed, or else. I should be living it up in Las Vegas."
They threatened to sue Camelot, the Lottery operator at the time, for the £4 million prize and £320,000 in interest.
However, one detail ended the short-lived charade and landed them right in the National Lottery's hotseat at the mercy of police investigators. While in prison for assaulting his former partner in March 2020, Goodram had let slip that they didn't have bank accounts and tried to cover it up by saying that they had used the debit card of a friend named "Cheung," who gave them his card after they supposedly lent him cash at a London brothel. In another tale, they simply said the card belonged to someone who wanted to "remain anonymous."
They were charged in July 2020 by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Although they claimed that they had won the prize "fair and square," they pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and did not see a cent of the £4 million lottery prize. The pair were jailed in December 2021 for 18 months each.
Addyman, the original owner of the debit card that was used to win the prize, revealed that he was contacted by police at the time of the investigation back in 2019, but officials were never fully transparent about what the fraudulent purchases had to do with.
"No one ever told me it was because someone had won £4 million," he told The Sun. "I've had my card stolen before. I was like, 'Why is this such a big deal?' No one ever explained it to me."
He said that had he known the fraudulent charges were related to criminals winning a huge lottery prize, he "would have been interested to see what happens" to them.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had contacted Addyman and requested that he attend court for his stolen debit card, but they never divulged any information as to why.
"They kept calling me, they even sent police to my house... but I was like, 'I'm not going to Manchester to say I don't know what's going on — I don't know anything,'" Addyman reasoned. "At the end of 2020, they're asking me to go to court, and even at this point, I still had no idea."
Addyman said he was blatantly ignored when he politely tried to inquire about the reasoning officials requested his presence at court.
With 2020 marking the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Addyman explained that he did not feel comfortable going "to a court room full of people just for [his] card getting stolen."
"I definitely would have been more cooperative if they told me what was happening," Addyman related. "All they sounded like was that my card got stolen and they were going way over the top with it."
He believed that the debit card information was stolen from him on a night out in Clapham, he told The Sun. Goodram saw the card details and wrote them down on his hand. With the card information, he and Watson bought £180 worth of goods at a Londis convenience store in Clapham.
The only thing that showed up on Addyman's end was two transactions for £95 each, but he could not tell what the money was spent on. He realized right away that his card had been stolen and promptly cancelled it.
"We conducted a full investigation into a case of fraud by false misrepresentation which resulted in two men receiving custodial sentences," A GMP spokesperson said in a statement. "We provided the victim with appropriate updates and information that protected the integrity of the investigation, and helped ensure the offenders were brought to justice."
While the bank refunded Addyman £180, the damage — or the win — had taken place. Goodram and Watson had already won the £4 million lottery prize without Addyman's knowledge.
Now, he's hoping that the Lottery will reward him with at least a portion of the prize. He would buy a house in London or take his family on a vacation if he ever saw some of the winnings come his way.
However, it's not likely to happen, according to Lottery officials.
"There has been no reason for us to contact him, as he is not the owner of the ticket and he has not contacted us," a spokesperson from Allwyn, the operator of the National Lottery, said. "The prize in question will be paid to National Lottery Good Causes after the expiry of the statutory limitation period starting from the end of the prize claim period for the relevant scratch card game."
VIDEO: Watch the report
VIDEO: Crooks plan legal action if they don't get the prize
The two thieves are like a modern-day Beavis and Butt-Head.
LOL!
And the "victim" is Principal McVicker.
"Goodram had 22 convictions for 45 criminal offenses under his name and Watson had 72 convictions for 133 offenses."
The Brits have a good word for these 2............Gormless
imagine that : the UK version of Beavis and arsehat
thar its been corrected
joshua addyman is a disciple of the "it never hurts to ask" school of thought. even brock lee, who errs on the side of giving people free money, thinks this is a no.
I think they eat way to much figgy pudding over there, why else would they catch these guys and let them out over and over .
Have never every heard of anyone anywhere being offered a choice between what the criminals bought with their money/cc or their money back.
Though I have wondered how identity thieves manage to buy hot cars and big houses I never could afford and whether I could hold onto the house or car seeing as it would be in my name, though there may be a nasty loan behind it.
BobP
Apparently "No" doesn't always mean "No" and "Don't" doesn't always mean "Don't".
Lesson to be learned....don't use a debit card, though his was stolen.
The money will instead be funneled to a fake Good Causes "non profit" with political connections. By political connections, I mean they pay off politicians.
The way I see it is the tickets are not valid because they were purchased illegally. Using a stolen card is definitely illegal and foolish because it is easy to trace.
I agree. Tainted legally.
Surely, the ticket is void, since it's proven to be purchased illicitly.
But talk about a story with no good guys.
I love the logic this victim is using for why he should get a payday. Hope nobody ever steals his car and then runs somebody over with it.
Apparently, but in another statement he mentions that Goodrow copied the CC Info onto his hand
"He believed that the debit card information was stolen from him on a night out in Clapham, he told The Sun. Goodram saw the card details and wrote them down on his hand. With the card information, he and Watson bought £180 worth of goods at a Londis convenience store in Clapham. "
So maybe not the physical card but you sometimes don't need it if purchasing at a store or online.
Maybe it didn't need the 3 digit security# on the back