Gran has won lottery so many times 'she's been made to feel like a criminal'
A gran says she has been made to feel "like some sort of criminal" after winning the National Lottery multiple times.
Amelia Barnham, 69, from Hammersmith, West London, spends £60 a week on tickets and has won a total of £23,600. But after recently scooping £800 on a £1 HotPicks ticket, new operator Allwyn has put her under investigation.
A former detective was sent to her house and allegedly demanded she prove her identity before grilling her about her past wins. The finance worker and mum-of-three is yet to receive her winnings following the draw on February 3.
Two days after the win, Amelia went to the Post Office to collect her winnings but was told to go back to Tesco to get it validated. But she was then told she needed to contact Allwyn, which took over from Camelot as Lotto operator on February 1.
Amelia's husband Tony, 69, sent the firm photos of the front and back of the winning ticket and was given a claim number. However, she was then told an investigator would visit her home on February 28. He took pictures of her ticket, bank card, bank statements and passport, and then took a photo of Amelia.
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Amelia and Tony Barnham (Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd)She told The Sun: “This has stressed me out so much and I am fuming. I have been treated like some sort of criminal — and having someone come to my house was intimidating.
“The numbers came from the national draw — so did they think I was printing the tickets or something? I have never had this trouble before and I am worried it will put people off buying tickets."
She said the investigator who showed up had previously worked for the police in the area for 30 years and said the probe was "ridiculous". She said, however, he was "embarrassed" and kept apologising.
Amelia said she asked why she was being investigated and he told her it was due to the amount of wins she's had and that she would hear back in around a week, though is still waiting.
Amelia's ticket from the February 2 draw (Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd)
Amelia says she won't be playing the lottery anymore (Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd)She has sworn to never buy any lottery tickets ever again and warned others to do the same, calling the whole ordeal "quite disturbing". Lottery prizes between £500 and £50,000 can no longer be collected from Post Offices and winners now have to verify their numbers.
An Allwyn spokesperson told the Mirror: “This is a new claims process following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000. The time the process takes will vary depending on, for example, if we need any further information from the player in order to process their claim, as well as how long it takes for us to receive the ticket or Scratchcard from the player.
"Security checks also form a key part of the process of validating a winning ticket to ensure we maintain the integrity of The National Lottery. All of our players are very important to us and we aim to provide them with as positive an experience as possible, so we're sorry to hear of Ms Barnham's concerns and we'll certainly follow up with her as we're keen to address those with her."
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