Lotto Winner Quits Work After Claiming £3.8 Million
An engineer from Southsea in Portsmouth has already handed in his resignation at work after winning £3.8 million in last Saturday’s Lotto draw. Leroy Bagley is now looking forward to helping out his family and buying a Range Rover or Aston Martin.
Bagley matched the numbers 6, 26, 32, 37, 42 and 59 on Saturday 16th March, after buying a ticket from a local Tesco Express while he was picking up a birthday present for his stepfather. He forgot to check the results straight away and was feeling so strapped for cash on the Sunday that he decided he could not go to the pub with friends.
When he later found out he had won a prize, he initially thought it was worth £3,800. He then realised he had become a multimillionaire and quickly rang the National Lottery to start the claims process. “Camelot asked me to sign the back of the ticket, which I couldn’t do because my hands were shaking so much.”
£3.8 Million Lotto Winner Will Share Money
While the news has come as quite a shock and will take some time to fully sink in, Bagley has wasted little time in making some big decisions. He said: “It’s been a crazy couple of days. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. When Camelot verified the ticket, I handed my resignation in. I didn’t want to push the button on that email until I knew it was real. It’s been a lot to take in, I’m going to miss work as well, I’ve got a good bunch of lads there. I can’t wait to take them out for a beer.”
The most exciting part of the win for Bagley is that he will be able to share the money with friends and family, particularly his 15-year-old daughter, who is taking her GCSEs. He said:“I want to set my daughter up for life. She wants to go to university and I want to get her a car. I just want her to stay safe and well and happy and enjoy it with me.”
Elaborating on what the win meant for him, Bagley, 42, said: “We’ve had hard times over the last few years, friends and family but we all look after each other. Being able to have a drink with my mum and tell her that she never had to worry about money ever again was magic and really beats any other grand plan I might have.”
Ade Goodchild Lottery Scams
Bagley became the second big National Lottery winner to go public this week, after Hereford man Ade Goodchild. Goodchild snapped up a £71 million EuroMillions jackpot last Friday, before celebrating with a takeaway pizza and a cold beer. He also revealed that he would be retiring from his job at a metal factory and sharing his money with family.
One of the common consequences of lottery winners going public and making generous promises is that their words are seized on by scammers. A number of fake social media accounts have already been set up in Goodchild’s name, including one Twitter post which has been retweeted thousands of times.
In the post, the scammer, posing as Goodchild, says: “I never ever thought I would have this kind of money in my life but God works in mysterious ways. But whose [sic] to say other people can’t share my blessings. Therefore I am running a giveaway. I will choose 10 people to give £1 million to. Simply retweet and follow to enter. GL!”
Whether the post is just someone’s joke or an attempt to extract financial information, you should be aware that lottery winners do not give away their money in this way. You need to play the lottery to win a prize, and will never have to pay any sort of fee before you can receive your money. Go to the Scams page for more information.
There will be another chance to take part in Lotto and EuroMillions this weekend, with big jackpots up for grabs in both games. Enter online or visit any authorised retailer to try and become the next winner.
Published: Friday 22nd March 2019Lottery News News Archive