A COUPLE are celebrating a £58 million lottery win – after fishing the lucky ticket from the bin.
Fred Higgins had ripped and chipped the EuroMillions slip before a shopkeeper realised it could be the key to a fortune.
The 67-year-old, from Aberdeenshire, had asked for the ticket to be run through a machine to verify whether or not he was in for a prize.
The former Audi administrator handed it over at the Scotmid store in Laurencekirk High Street with several others.
He said: "I handed the ticket over and the young man put it through the machine, telling me it wasn’t a winner. He ripped the ticket in two and threw it into the bin, as they would with all non-winning tickets. But this time, the terminal produced a chitty which said I needed to retain my ticket and call Camelot. The retailer immediately grabbed it out of the bin and handed it to me, not realising it was a winner before he discarded it.
“The ticket had been torn in two but all the numbers were still clear so I took it back home to make the call."
Initially Fred's wife Lesley, 57, misunderstood the jackpot, thinking they were in line for £5.7m instead of the larger sum.
Yesterday the couple, who have one daughter, told how they may quit Scotland to live out dreams of life in the sun.
Lesley has already handed in her notice from her role as account manager at the Montrose Port Authority and the pair have also spent some winnings on a new Audi Cabriolet.
Fred said: "We had a really comfortable life before the win but we did have dreams of living abroad. We love Gozo, which is where my niece lives, so we always thought we would get somewhere out there. But I have to say since we won, I’ve got my eye on somewhere in France and Lesley seems to be looking at property in Barbados. I think it might be fun to explore a few places before we commit to buying anything."
He went on: "It is our wedding anniversary on 20 August and my birthday a couple of days later, so I think a celebration is in order before we decide what comes next.”
The win dates back to July 10, but the payout was delayed due to security checks as a result of the ticket rip.
A Camelot spokesperson said: “We are so glad to be able to pay Fred and Lesley this amazing sum. It is essential that we ensure we are paying the rightful ticket-holder, and in situations like this, it can take a little time for these investigations to be completed.”
Scotland's biggest ever lottery winners are Colin and Chris Weir, from Ayrshire.
The pair scooped £161m – a UK record – in 2011 and have since established the Weir Charitable Trust, which benefits a range of good causes around the country.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel