National Lottery fraud trial: Accused 'found ticket in his van'

A man accused of fraudulently claiming a £2.5m National Lottery jackpot said he found his winning ticket under a seat in his van, a court heard.

Edward Putman, 54, from Hertfordshire, denies committing fraud by false representation by claiming £2,525,485 with a faked ticket in 2009.

St Albans Crown Court heard he was helped by Camelot insider Giles Knibbs, who knew how to cheat the system.

The alleged fraud came to light after Mr Knibbs took his own life.

Mr Putman, of Station Road, Kings Langley, claimed the prize from the 11 March 2009 draw on 28 August, just before the six-month deadline passed to claim the win

The jury was read a statement from Camelot worker Dot Renshaw who said: "I saw a male with a badly damaged ticket. He was a builder who drove a van and found a ticket under a seat.

"I explained we couldn't pay straight away as there was no bottom part of the ticket."

Jurors were read a transcript of the call Mr Putman made to Camelot worker Maureen Bazin in which he said he had the ticket, which had been bought at a Co-op store in Worcester.

When she told him the prize was £2,525,485, he said: "Oh you are joking. What am I going to do with that?"

Telling her the ticket was damaged he said: "I have got a habit of ripping things up and writing phone numbers down."

The court also heard from Andrew Suckley, a former partner of Mr Knibbs.

In a statement, Mr Suckley said: "There was a delay between the draw and Eddie claiming the ticket because Giles was experimenting with printing tickets.

"Giles had to throw a few trial tickets away - this took a month."

His statement continued: "Giles felt let down and betrayed [by Eddie] and told me he was expecting to receive £1m or more for his part in fraud."

In a message to Mr Putman, found on Mr Knibbs' phone, the Camelot worker had written: "You have let this relationship down through greed, confrontational behaviour and arrogance."

The trial continues.