£4m scratchcard losers are jailed
Ticket bought with stranger’s card
TWO beggars who missed out on a £4million Lottery jackpot because they had used a stranger’s debit card were yesterday jailed for fraud.
Jon Ross Watson, 34, and Mark Goodram, 38, hit the headlines in 2019 after buying the winning scratchcard in a Waitrose store.
The pair – who were both on licence from prison and have almost 100 convictions between them – boasted that they would blow the winnings on exotic cars and luxury holidays as they partied for four days following the win.
Dubbed the ‘Blotto louts’, they shared images of themselves downing cocktails and champagne and waving wads of £50 notes.
However Lottery operator Camelot was immediately suspicious of the claim as – despite buying the scratchcard using a debit card – neither had a bank account for the winnings to be paid into. Publicly threatening to report the firm to police for failing to pay up, Watson accused Camelot of ‘messing us around, probably because they know we’ve had a lively past’.
Finally, more than two years later, both men yesterday pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Bolton Crown Court.
The court heard the pair travelled from Bolton to Clapham, south-west London, with the details of a debit card belonging to a man called Joshua Addyman written on Goodram’s hand. It is unknown how they obtained the details.
The pair keyed the digits into a chip and pin machine to buy more than £160 worth of shopping – including the winning scratchcard.
Jailing them for 18 months, Recorder Sarah Johnston told the pair: ‘Your offending is rooted in greed and the lack of respect for the honesty of others.’ Camelot said it was ‘pleased’ the case had been resolved.