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A syndicate of thirteen taxi owners and drivers
have won a major Lotto prize for the second
time in five years. In February 2002 the syndicate
matched five numbers and the bonus ball to win
£144,222. Five years later, in February
2007, they went one better by matching all six
main Lotto numbers to scoop a £546,480
share of the jackpot.
Alan Russell is the leader of the syndicate,
and although he was the first member to discover
the win, this discovery wasn't made until he
was about to buy tickets for the draw scheduled
to take a place a week later. When he did realise
that Lotto lightning had struck twice, he was
understandably surprised.
"Usually, my wife checks the ticket after
the Saturday draw but she was ill with a cold
last weekend," Alan said. "When I
went to the shop to buy the next week's ticket
and check the numbers from the Saturday I was
in for a shock. The shopkeeper told me that
I had won big and my mouth just dropped - I
could not believe it!"
"To win on Lotto twice in five years is
unbelievable," Alan admitted. "We
are all over the moon - the money will make
a huge difference to all of our lives. It won't
be long before we all use our passports! A lot
of the syndicate are going to go on holiday
- some are planning once-in-a-lifetime trips
to faraway places such as Australia."
But not Alan. He is planning to take a trip
to Italy so that he and his wife can visit Rome,
Pompeii and Capri for their 30th wedding anniversary.
He also has an eye on a Toyota Avensis that
he wants to buy. And maybe he will be treating
his daughter, who seems to have a gift for predicting
the future...
"Funnily enough, the day before I discovered
we had won, my daughter, who is a bank manageress
in Worthing, told me that she had dreamt that
someone she knew was going to have a big win
on the lottery," Alan explained. "She
was amazed when true when I told her that my
syndicate had won over half a million pounds
and her dream had come true!"
Given the number of members in the syndicate,
this win seems to offer convincing proof that
the number 13 really can be lucky for some!
9 March, 2007
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