Lotto scandal gran dies aged 49
A GRANDMOTHER who falsely staked a claim to a £33million lottery jackpot has died from a suspected heart attack aged just 49.
Susanne Hinte is believed to have collapsed at her home on Monday afternoon.
Hinte was at the centre of a storm last year after she contacted Lotto operator Camelot saying she had won the fortune but had accidently put the winning ticket in the washing machine.
Days later the German-born grandmother of four’s dreams of collecting the mega-payout lay in tatters – just like her ticket – when the real winner came forward. She later said she regretted the whole incident which plunged her into a depression.
Hinte said: “I couldn’t understand why all of a sudden I was hated by so many people.”
Neighbours told yesterday how paramedics and police were called to Hinte’s £150,000 semi-detached home in Worcester after she was found unresponsive by her 18-year-old son Brandon.
Her daughter Natasha Douglas, 29, said she was “too upset” to talk about her mother’s death.
Hinte had been unable to work and was claiming benefits as she had suffered with a heart condition for a number of years.
A family spokesman said: “I believe it was heart failure or a heart attack. She hadn’t been very well for a number of years.
“People would accuse her of faking it – but obviously it was genuine.
Creative
“She couldn’t walk more than a few yards without struggling.
“She had a lot of enemies but she was a very talented and creative woman.
“This is very sad news and my thoughts are with her family.
“Whatever she’s been involved with in the past, nobody deserves to go like that at such a young age.”
In January, a former friend was found guilty of a revenge porn offence after selling pictures of her topless and in lingerie.
Worcester magistrates’ court was told Julie Howard received £750 for the images to get Hinte back for hiding her hair curlers in a tumble dryer.
Howard, 37, was given a suspended six-week jail term after she was found guilty of disclosing sexual pictures.
Last July Hinte was cleared of stealing a woman’s purse after a three-day trial in Birmingham.