Barking Mad

A couple from Barking really would have been mad if they’d not listened to their daughter and checked their lottery tickets. Unknown to them, they had a ticket worth £2,561,750 from the lottery draw on 7 February. A month later the West Ham fans were happily celebrating at Upton Park with bottles of Champagne. Lynn and Terry Patience usually hide their tickets away and check them every so often, so when their daughter heard some publicity from the National Lottery urging players to check their tickets, she told her parents to do just that! Terry took his batch of tickets to Thames View Post Office, and they confirmed that one was indeed the missing double million winner.

The happy family are planning a party, and have always dreamed of moving house, and maybe a villa on Spain’s Costa Brava. As avid West Ham supporters they are planning plenty of trips with children and grandchildren to see the Hammers play. The lucky numbers were made up from birthdays and Lynn has been playing these same numbers almost since the lottery began, and they were 6,16,18,29,30,35.

But, a syndicate of seven Hair and Beauty salon staff knew they’d be winners as a fortune teller had told syndicate leader Wendy Brown that seven would be lucky for her. The syndicate was created on 7th August, has 7 members, one of whom is aged 77, and the year is 2007. Their lucky numbers from the draw on 28/2/07 were: 4,15,34,40,44,46 – not a seven in sight, but that’s because it was a Lucky Dip, bought at Burnside Newsagents in Rutherglen. The syndicate all work at Smile Hair and Beauty in Burnside, Scotland and have £2,928,483 to share giving them all over £418,000 each. Wendy plans a Caribbean cruise and a new house, and syndicate member Natalie is getting married in Mauritius in two weeks.

- 19/3/07