Shopkeeper tried to swindle £130,000 from partially deaf OAP after pretending his EuroMillions ticket was a loser
A SHOPKEEPER tried to swindle £130,000 from a partially deaf OAP after pretending his EuroMillions ticket was a loser.
Narendra Gill swiped the lucky dip ticket — which had five winning numbers and a Lucky Star — from retired delivery man Frank Gowland after checking it.
The 81-year-old had no clue he had scooped a big Lotto prize until weeks later when police called him.
Staff at Camelot, which runs EuroMillions, became suspicious when Gill, 52, called them and they heard her serving customers.
She admitted she worked in the GT News shop at the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds but said she was gifted the ticket and did not know where it was bought.
Camelot alerted police, who identified Mr Gowland via CCTV footage, spotting him and his wife Sue, 77, getting into their car.
Shop manager Gill, from York, admitted theft and fraud and was jailed yesterday at Leeds crown court for 28 months.
Recorder Dafydd Enoch QC told her she had been “unbelievably cruel”.
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He added: “People who work in these places need to hear the message that you cannot abuse your position when it comes to dealing with millions of pounds. Trust is so important.”
The £46million Euro jackpot rolled over after the May 4 draw last year but two Brit tickets — one bought by Mr Gowland — each won £130,928.
The winning numbers were 3, 10, 13, 28, 46 with one of the 4 and 11 Lucky Stars.
Mr Gowland said after the case: “The whole thing has been quite a shock.
“I had no clue I’d won until I got this phone call. I couldn’t hear what the PC was saying so I asked my stepson to deal with it.
“He said to the officer, ‘You must be joking, this is a scam’. Anyway, it wasn’t and I had won.”
Mr Gowland, who wears a hearing aid, remembers giving Gill eight tickets to check.
She told him they were all losers and handed him back crumpled tickets, not realising she had switched them.
Mr Gowland added: “The police knew everything. They even knew we bought toilet roll on the day. They told me the woman phoned Camelot, 15 minutes after I left, claiming to have a winning ticket.
“But they smelt a rat. She was lying through her teeth. It’s unbelievable really. I might never have known.”
The thrilled dad of two, from Leeds, eventually received his deserved payout in November.
He added: “It has certainly helped to make life a bit more comfortable.
“I bought a new car, cleared all my debts and gave quite a bit of money to my family. We’ve had new carpets and we’re getting a walk-in shower for my wife, who has health problems.”
When approached by The Sun before her sentencing, mum-of-two Gill said: “Obviously, I wish I had not done it. It was stupid.”
The branch where Gill worked is now closed.
