Men who bought scratchcard with someone else's money jailed for fraud
Duo who bought £4million-winning scratchcard with someone else’s debit card details are jailed for 18 months for fraud
- Jon Ross Watson and Mark Goodram were today jailed for 18 months for fraud
- They bought the winning scratchcard using someone else’s card details in 2019
- National Lottery became suspicious when Goodram said he had no bank account
- They pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud today at Bolton Crown Court
Two men who bought a £4million-winning scratchcard with someone else’s debit card details have been jailed for 18 months for fraud.
Jon Ross Watson, 34, and Mark Goodram, 38, bought the winning Red card in a Waitrose store in Clapham, London, on April 22, 2019.
On Tuesday, they pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Bolton Crown Court, where they had been due to stand trial.
Sentencing them, Recorder Sarah Johnston said: ‘You must have thought all of your Christmases had come at once.
Jon Ross Watson, 34, and Mark Goodram, 38, (pictured) pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Bolton Crown Court today over the winning scratchcard they purchased in 2019
‘Despite knowing you had fraudulently acquired that prize money you tried to claim it.’
The court heard the men travelled from Bolton to London on Easter Monday in 2019 where they intended to go begging.
Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said the pair, who were both on licence at the time following prison sentences, had details of a debit card belonging to a man named Joshua Addyman, who they did not know.
Goodram had the card number and expiry date written on his hand and keyed them into a chip and pin machine at a Londis store on Clapham High Street, where they bought £90 of shopping at 10.21am, Ms Fitzpatrick said.
She said they then went to the Waitrose store on Clapham Common where they bought £71 worth of shopping, including five scratchcards, using the same technique.
Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said Watson (pictured) telephoned the National Lottery line at 10.50am on Easter Monday 2019 and told the operator his friend had won the jackpot
One of the cards had a prize of £10, which they claimed at the Londis store, while the other had the jackpot prize.
Ms Fitzpatrick said Watson telephoned the National Lottery line at 10.50am and told the operator his friend had won the jackpot.
Goodram came onto the line and said he would be sharing the prize with his friend, before being told the payment would be made by bank transfer, she said.
Ms Fitzpatrick said: ‘Mark Goodram explained he did not have a bank account.
‘The purchase of the winning scratchcard had been made by debit card from a bank account however, which immediately raised suspicions.’
The court heard the pair spoke to media when the prize was not immediately paid out to them.
Goodram and Watson were jailed today at Bolton Crown Court (pictured) after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud
Recorder Johnston said: ‘You had the audacity to plead your sense of injustice in the national newspapers subsequent to the fraud being uncovered.’
She said their crime had deprived the next law-abiding customer to buy a scratchcard in the Waitrose store of ‘a life-changing sum of money’.
The court heard Goodram, of no fixed abode, had 24 previous convictions for 48 offences.
Robin Kitching, defending, said Goodram had longstanding addictions to drugs and alcohol.
He was sentenced to a further month for a Bail Act offence after failing to attend court in November.
Watson, of Nuttall Avenue, Little Lever, had 74 convictions for 143 previous offences and was jailed earlier this month for assault occasioning bodily harm and theft from a shop, the court heard.
Nicholas Ross, defending, said Watson understood his wrongdoing and, as a result of the case, found himself ‘shamed and ridiculed’ by members of the public.
Recorder Johnston said: ‘I have no doubt that both of you will continue to offend in dishonest ways in the future.’
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