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A National Lottery couple only won a £250,000 jackpot because of “a stupid mistake” – and they say it stopped them dead in their tracks. The pair of winners revealed how an easy mistake ultimately led to their unexpected windfall.
Michelle Newton, a 50-year-old teacher, and her husband John Simpson, a school caretaker from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, won £250k.They say they were on their way to do a bit of Christmas shopping in late December when they misplaced their keys.
Michelle explained: “We were off to town in between Christmas and New Year to see the sales, just to mooch really. But as we were leaving, we realised we couldn’t find our keys. We searched everywhere, and by the time we found them, we were running late.”
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After eventually finding the keys and heading out, the couple popped into Pages Newsagents on Camden Road for a few essentials. With some spare change, they decided to buy a £2 scratch card, and their lives changed forever.
Michelle said: “We scratched the card outside the shop and just stopped dead in our tracks. I looked at John and said, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ We were in complete shock, standing there in the street with cars whizzing past.”
John, 61, added: “We kept looking at the scratch card, wondering what to do next. Michelle was feeling light-headed, so we thought a drink would calm our nerves. It was a mad day – if we hadn’t lost our keys, we’d have gone into the newsagents at a different time and bought a different scratch card. We might never have won a thing.”
Michelle added: “I’m still in shock, but I’m looking forward to being more relaxed about money. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks – John hasn’t slept much, and until the lady from the National Lottery turned up, we hid the scratchcard in the lining of John’s coat.
“We’d keep getting it out and looking at it over and over. I still can’t believe we have won.”
