Kath Main, a mother from Abercynon, south Wales, has reportedly been told she will receive the £12 million lottery jackpot after her winning ticket was accidentally thrown in the bin. However, the payout is conditional on no one else claiming the prize by December 3.
Investigation concludes
Kath's winning slip was mistakenly discarded by a shopkeeper after it failed to register on a machine. She launched a claim, and operators Allwyn have now concluded a 30-day investigation into the incident. Kath has reportedly been told they have accepted her version of events and she is now on course to be handed the prize.
Kath and her husband Marcus now face an agonising wait for the cash. She said she feels "sick every day" as she waits for December to learn her fate.
Winning numbers and the mistake
The 46-year-old had played her usual lucky numbers for the Saturday draw on June 6, which were 8, 10, 26, 30, 35, and 42. They are based on her and Marcus's birthdays, their ages when they started playing, and two random numbers "to make it up to six".
When her mother, cafe owner Fiona, checked the result at the Londis in Abercynon, the owner said she had not won and threw the ticket in the bin. Days later, Kath saw on the news that the jackpot prize had been scooped in her area of Rhondda Cynon Taf but had not been claimed – and the winning numbers matched hers.
Shopkeeper's response and Allwyn's statement
Shop owner Karan Kumar, who binned the ticket, previously said: "The woman came in to check the numbers and there was no beep on the machine, nothing came up on the screen, so we just binned them. It would be amazing if she won."
A spokesperson for Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: "We are the only major lottery which is able to look to pay a winner even if they have lost their ticket. The investigation we conduct is designed to ensure any claim is from the rightful ticketholder. We are then able, at our discretion, to pay that player once the claim period has expired 180 days after the draw. We are proud to pay out millions of prizes as well as raising over £33M for Good Causes each week."
