Veteran Who Forgot He Still Played the Lottery Wins £500,000

Rik Robinson thought the call telling him he had won the lottery was a joke. The 58-year-old former British Army serviceman had completely forgotten that he still played the Postcode Lottery, until he checked his bank account and saw that payments were still being taken automatically.

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At first I thought it was a joke when someone who claimed to be from the Postcode Lottery called and said, ‘You’ve won a prize.’ I thought, ‘No, I haven’t.’

Robinson, from Street in Somerset, won £250,000 on each of his two tickets, for a total of £500,000. “At first I thought it was a joke when someone who claimed to be from the Postcode Lottery called and said, ‘You’ve won a prize.’ I thought, ‘No, I haven’t,’” he said.

He was one of eight winners in Street, where a group of neighbors shared £2.25 million. “I can’t even get my head around how much money that is. It’s madness, an absolutely incredible amount,” Robinson said.

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I can’t even get my head around how much money that is. It’s madness, an absolutely incredible amount.

Robinson joined the British Army in 1985 and served with the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery, spending much of his military career in Dortmund, Germany. He plans to pay off the mortgage first, then refurbish “Myrtle the Turtle,” a 1980s caravan he owns with his wife, Sharon.

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Just the thought that we don’t have to worry about money anymore... You know, things like the plumber coming tomorrow.

The win came only weeks after their 170-year-old terraced home suffered serious flood damage. The couple spent six weeks drying it with dehumidifiers and fans while facing major repair costs. Nearby, Tel Hayes, 77, and his wife Morwyn, 81, also celebrated a £250,000 win. After recently marking their 30th wedding anniversary, they plan to take a Norwegian fjords cruise in October. “Just the thought that we don’t have to worry about money anymore... You know, things like the plumber coming tomorrow,” Hayes said. “But once the plumber’s finished, we’ll go out and buy Mo some dresses for the cruise.”

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But once the plumber’s finished, we’ll go out and buy Mo some dresses for the cruise.