Dead at 49, the Lotto scandal gran who tried to claim £33m
A GRANDMOTHER who tried to claim a £33million Lotto jackpot with a ticket she said was ruined in her washing machine has died after collapsing at home.
‘Lotto Gran’ Susanne Hinte, 49, is believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest at the modest property where she was besieged by journalists after staking her claim for a half share of the £66million jackpot in January last year.
Hinte contacted lottery operator Camelot after it announced one of the two jackpot-winning tickets, which followed several rollovers, had been bought in her home city of Worcester.
The winning numbers, 26, 27, 46, 47, 52 and 58 were visible but the date, bar code and serial number had been washed off.
Her claim was ruled out when the true joint winner, who opted for anonymity, came forward. A Scottish couple, David and Carol Martin, from Hawick in the Borders, won half the prize.
Paramedics were called to her home in Warndon, Worcester, on Monday but West Midlands Ambulance Service said nothing could be done to save the German-born grandmother of four.
West Mercia Police also attended and confirmed that her death is not being treated as suspicious.
Yesterday, her daughter Natasha Douglas, 29, said she was ‘too upset to talk.’
At the time of her ‘win’, her daughter spoke of how she had previously been in intensive care with a heart condition.
A neighbour, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘The family have been there all day and they are in bits. She was a controversial woman but she had a very loving family. Even though she had this heart condition, everyone is in deep shock.’
In January, the healthcare worker told how she was suicidal after having her ‘life taken away from her’ as a result of the Lotto scandal.
She said: ‘No amount of money I could ever get could make up for what has happened. I wish I’d never done it.
‘I am never going to buy a lottery ticket again. I mean that with all my heart.
‘I wanted to kill myself last week because I thought nothing can be worse than this.’
Last July she was cleared of stealing £55 and two bank cards belonging to 73-yearold Susan Kirby in Birmingham as she made her way to a blind date.
In April a charge that she stole an Xbox controller from a man she had met online was dropped.