Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Their luck’s inn
Pub hits million pound lottery jackpot for the third time in four years Man, 23, charged over knife killing of OAP dog walker
A PUB has raised the bar on serving trebles – after notching three £1million lottery wins.
David Long, a regular at The Mallard, toasted the first windfall on Euromillions in 2013.
And he enjoyed a double after landing a second £1million in the same draw in 2015 – beating odds of more than 283 billion to one.
David said at the time: “I always knew I’d win, even the first time. I just had a feeling it was going to be me. I tend to play when I know there are lots of prizes on the go.”
But incredibly, landlord Ian Brooke, 43, has now made it a treble for the pub in Scunthorpe, North Lincs. And the father-offour, who has run the boozer for 18 years, has said he will honour a promise he made to hand £125,000 each to his two best friends.
David, who was working as a HGV driver, nearly missed out on his first big win. He mistakenly thought he had won just £2.70 and chucked the ticket in the bin. But as he was on his way out he realised he needed to buy a newspaper, and retrieved the ticket to cash it in. David said: “I had to fish the ticket out of the bin and found when I got to the shop that it was worth a heck of a lot more.
“That win was fantastic and couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Times had been really tough and I had been really ill for three years, unable to work leading up to it.
“I lasted three days at work and then took early retirement.”
David said his wins had been “amazing” and he had been able to treat the family, buy a new car and finally get hitched to partner Kathleen after a 12-year engagement.
The couple are believed to have stayed loyal to The Mallard and still live in their static caravan. THIS is the man accused of murdering dog walker Peter Wrighton.
Alexander Palmer, 23, appeared in court yesterday via a videolink from prison. His fiancee Christina was among those in the public gallery as he was remanded in custody.
Unshaven, with close-cropped dark hair, Palmer wore a blue jumper and grey trousers.
He was arrested in the early hours of Saturday in the Norfolk village of Bawdeswell, where police searched a five-bedroom house.
He allegedly stabbed Peter, 83, repeatedly in the head and neck as he walked his dogs in woodland at East Harling 10 days ago.
Asked to give his address, Palmer asked: “You mean the address where I was arrested or the address where I live?” He confirmed his home as Cringleford, Norfolk, where he is believed to live mum Fiona, 53, and family.
Palmer has worked at an animal-testing lab since January. He left the Royal Artillery in November 2015 after five years as a gunner.
He entered no plea at Norwich magistrates court and is to appear at crown court today.